Join us this October as Oxford Lieder, the UK’s biggest festival of song, marks its 20th year with its most ambitious programme to date.
This year’s Festival features more than 100 events, both in-person with a socially distanced audience and livestreamed online, building on the success of two previous online festivals.
World-class singers and pianists, alongside emerging stars, take to the stage for song recitals, complemented by piano, chamber and choral works and several world premieres.
An extensive series of Song Connections events forges links between music, poetry, nature, art, language and science, ensuring multiple access points to the world of song
Streaming tickets start at just £3, with a full Festival streaming pass, providing online access to every event, offering exceptional value at £165.
'All song lovers should buy a pass for the Oxford Lieder Festival... varied, rewarding, engaging.' The Observer, 2021
Friday 8th October
5:30 PM
04. Summer Nights (first performance)
- Julius Drake
- Sarah Connolly
- Gus Tredwell
- Charles Cunliffe
08 Oct 2021 17:30 | Saint John the Evangelist
All evening concerts this year are performed twice, at 5.30pm and 8.15pm. This 5.30pm performance will be in-person only. Please see Event 06 for information on the 8.15pm in-person and livestreamed performance. Star of The Last Night of the Proms and the world’s great stages, Dame Sarah Connolly’s Festival appearances are always eagerly anticipated. With the celebrated pi...Saturday 9th October
5:30 PM
09. Carnival of the Animals (first performance)
- Elizabeth Watts
- Jonathan Stone
- Jâms Coleman
- Felix Kemp
- Martin Sturfält
- Echor Chamber Orchestra
09 Oct 2021 17:30 | Saint John the Evangelist
All evening concerts this year are performed twice, at 5.30pm and 8.15pm. This 5.30pm performance will be in-person only. Please see Event 11 for information on the 8.15pm in-person and livestreamed performance. Saint-Saëns was mortified that Carnival of the Animals became his best-known work, but there is no denying its perennial appeal. In tonight’s performance ...Sunday 10th October
5:30 PM
15. Songs and Moods (first performance)
- Sholto Kynoch
- Roderick Williams
- Camilla Tilling
- Agnes Auer
10 Oct 2021 17:30 | Saint John the Evangelist
All evening concerts this year are performed twice, at 5.30pm and 8.15pm. This 5.30pm performance will be in-person only. Please see Event 17 for information on the 8.15pm in-person and livestreamed performance. Stenhammar wrote many songs, but only one substantial song cycle: ‘Songs and Moods’. Setting texts by five poets – with three poems of Bo Bergman at ...Monday 11th October
5:30 PM
22. Over Silent Lands (first performance)
- Imogen Cooper
- Ian Bostridge
- Siân Dicker
- Krystal Tunnicliffe
11 Oct 2021 17:30 | Saint John the Evangelist
All evening concerts this year are performed twice, at 5.30pm and 8.15pm. This 5.30pm performance will be in-person only. Please see Event 24 for information on the 8.15pm in-person and livestreamed performance. Ian Bostridge and Dame Imogen Cooper perform a glorious programme of Beethoven and Schumann. Alongside several other songs by Beethoven, they include his song cycle An di...Tuesday 12th October
5:30 PM
27. Schubert: Songs of the Sea (first performance)
- Sholto Kynoch
- Dietrich Henschel
- Lucy Colquhoun
- Polly Leech
12 Oct 2021 17:30 | Saint John the Evangelist
All evening concerts this year are performed twice, at 5.30pm and 8.15pm. Schubert: Songs of the Sea and Schubert: Winterreise follow a slightly different pattern to the other repeated performances during the festival. This 5.30pm performance will be in-person only. Please see Event 35 for information on the in-person and livestreamed performance THE FOLLOWING DAY at 8....Wednesday 13th October
5:30 PM
33. Schubert: Winterreise (second performance)
- Katherine Broderick
- Kathryn Stott
13 Oct 2021 17:30 | Saint John the Evangelist
All evening concerts this year are performed twice, at 5.30pm and 8.15pm. Schubert: Winterreise and Schubert: Songs of the Sea follow a slightly different pattern to the other repeated performances during the festival. This 5.30pm performance will be in-person only. Please see Event 29 for information on the in-person and livestreamed performance THE DAY BEFORE&nbs...Thursday 14th October
5:30 PM
39. Frauenliebe und -leben (first performance)
- Malcolm Martineau
- Dorothea Röschmann
- Ted Black
- Ana Manastireanu
14 Oct 2021 17:30 | Saint John the Evangelist
All evening concerts this year are performed twice, at 5.30pm and 8.15pm. This 5.30pm performance will be in-person only. Please see Event 41 for information on the 8.15pm in-person and livestreamed performance. Dorothea Röschmann is one of the world’s best-known sopranos, a Grammy-winning artist whose partnership with Malcolm Martineau has been described by The Guardian as...Friday 15th October
5:30 PM
46. Fleurs (first performance)
- Joseph Middleton
- Lana Bode
- Carolyn Sampson
- Shakira Tsindos
15 Oct 2021 17:30 | Saint John the Evangelist
All evening concerts this year are performed twice, at 5.30pm and 8.15pm. This 5.30pm performance will be in-person only. Please see Event 48 for information on the 8.15pm in-person and livestreamed performance. Carolyn Sampson and Joseph Middleton bring a floral sparkle to the Festival with highlights from their hugely well-received CD ‘Fleurs’. This glorious collection o...Saturday 16th October
5:30 PM
52. Crosscurrents (first performance)
- Sholto Kynoch
- Benjamin Appl
- Ellie Neate
- Thomas Eeckhout
16 Oct 2021 17:30 | Saint John the Evangelist
All evening concerts this year are performed twice, at 5.30pm and 8.15pm. This 5.30pm performance will be in-person only. Please see Event 54 for information on the 8.15pm in-person and livestreamed performance. Benjamin Appl explores repertoire inspired by or written in the USA, but by composers who were not themselves American: Korngold, Dvorák, Weill, Schoenberg, and...Sunday 17th October
5:30 PM
59. Into the Woods (first performance)
- Nicky Spence
- Anna Tilbrook
- Kitty Whately
- Neil Balfour
17 Oct 2021 17:30 | Saint John the Evangelist
All evening concerts this year are performed twice, at 5.30pm and 8.15pm. This 5.30pm performance will be in-person only. Please see Event 61 for information on the 8.15pm in-person and livestreamed performance. To conclude our weekend of American song, we turn to one of the great wordsmiths and musicians of the last century, Stephen Sondheim. Kitty Whately, Nicky Spence and...Monday 18th October
5:30 PM
66. Studies and Improvisations (first performance)
- Christoph Prégardien
- Ana Manastireanu
- Katy Thomson
- Michael Gees
18 Oct 2021 17:30 | Saint John the Evangelist
All evening concerts this year are performed twice, at 5.30pm and 8.15pm. This 5.30pm performance will be in-person only. Please see Event 68 for information on the 8.15pm in-person and livestreamed performance. Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder were written in 1857/8 while the composer was working on Tristan und Isolde, and two of the songs are directly labelled...Tuesday 19th October
5:30 PM
73. The Path of Life (first performance)
- Simon Lepper
- Ilker Arcayürek
- Joseph Ramadan
- Martha Jones
19 Oct 2021 17:30 | Saint John the Evangelist
All evening concerts this year are performed twice, at 5.30pm and 8.15pm. This 5.30pm performance will be in-person only. Please see Event 75 for information on the 8.15pm in-person and livestreamed performance. The Turkish-Austrian tenor Ilker Arcayürek has recently released his second disc of Schubert songs with the pianist Simon Lepper, both of which have been widely acclai...Wednesday 20th October
5:30 PM
81. Four Last Songs (first performance)
- Simon Lepper
- Gweneth Ann Rand
- George Ireland
- Jessica Cale
20 Oct 2021 17:30 | Saint John the Evangelist
All evening concerts this year are performed twice, at 5.30pm and 8.15pm. This 5.30pm performance will be in-person only. Please see Event 83 for information on the 8.15pm in-person and livestreamed performance. We welcome back Gweneth Ann Rand and Simon Lepper, whose 2019 Festival performance of Messiaen’s Harawi was described in The Observer as ‘technically brilliant,...Thursday 21st October
5:30 PM
89. A Schumanniade (first performance)
- Eugene Asti
- Stephan Loges
- Sophie Karthäuser
- Natalie Burch
- James Way
21 Oct 2021 17:30 | Saint John the Evangelist
All evening concerts this year are performed twice, at 5.30pm and 8.15pm. This 5.30pm performance will be in-person only. Please see Event 91 for information on the 8.15pm in-person and livestreamed performance. A top trio of artists perform songs and duets by Robert and Clara Schumann. The centrepiece of the programme is Robert Schumann’s Kerner Lieder, ...Friday 22nd October
5:30 PM
97. To the Distant Beloved (first performance)
- Roger Vignoles
- Robin Tritschler
22 Oct 2021 17:30 | Saint John the Evangelist
All evening concerts this year are performed twice, at 5.30pm and 8.15pm. This 5.30pm performance will be in-person only. Please see Event 99 for information on the 8.15pm in-person and livestreamed performance. Gramophone Magazine wrote last year of Robin Tritschler’s performance of Beethoven’s An die ferne Geliebte (‘To the distant belov...Saturday 23rd October
5:30 PM
103. Songs of Travel (first performance)
- Christopher Maltman
- Audrey Saint-Gil
- Ella Taylor
- Ella O'Neill
23 Oct 2021 17:30 | Saint John the Evangelist
All evening concerts this year are performed twice, at 5.30pm and 8.15pm. This 5.30pm performance will be in-person only. Please see Event 104 for information on the 8.15pm in-person and livestreamed performance. The 20th Oxford Lieder Festival draws to a close with music by Schubert and Vaughan Williams performed by renowned baritone Christopher Maltman and the fast-rising ...