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
11:00 AM
01. A Cumbrian Idyll
- Gavin Plumley
- Jess Dandy
- Martin Roscoe
- James Rebanks
08 Oct 2021 11:00 | Jacqueline du Pré Music Building
To start the Festival, we put a best-selling author-shepherd, a brilliant young singer and a world-renowned pianist in a room to talk about if and where landscape, music, lambing and poetry overlap. Each with roots in Cumbria, these three artists ask what we mean by ‘pastoral’ and explore how a landscape has shaped their own creativity, with music and poetry by Vaughan Williams, Wor...
3:30 PM
03. Gurney's Gloucestershire
- Anna Cavaliero
- Kate Kennedy
- Natalie Burch
08 Oct 2021 15:30 | Jacqueline du Pré Music Building
Ahead of the 5.45pm performance of To His Love, Kate Kennedy, author of the newly-published Dweller in Shadows: A Life of Ivor Gurney, delves into the profound influence of the Gloucestershire landscape on the poetry and music of Ivor Gurney, with live performances illustrating her talk given by soprano Anna Cavaliero and pianist Natalie Burch. PRACTICAL INFORMATION This event...Saturday 9th October
1:30 PM
08. Celebrating Saint-Saëns
- Liam Bonthrone
- Flora Willson
- Jennifer Rushworth
- Bernadette Johns
- Benjamin Mead
09 Oct 2021 13:30 | Jacqueline du Pré Music Building
1.30pm - 2.30pm - Part 1: Camille Saint-Saëns: A Life in Song 3pm - 4pm - Part 2: Saint-Saëns and the Musical World of the Salon Today we celebrate and explore the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns, who died 100 years ago this year (and whose 186th birthday would have fallen today). Although best known these days for his orchestral works, Saint-Saëns wrote ...Sunday 10th October
1:30 PM
14. Celebrating Stenhammar
- Leah Broad
- Daniel Grimley
- Martin Sturfält
- Agnes Auer
10 Oct 2021 13:30 | Jacqueline du Pré Music Building
1.30pm-2.30pm - Swedish Song: Broadening Horizons 3pm-4pm - Stenhammar: A Swedish Voice The Swedish composer Wilhelm Stenhammar, born 150 years ago, was one of the finest song composers of his generation and would surely be mentioned in the same breath as his more famous contemporaries if Swedish-language song was better known. To introduce this two-part event, Leah Broad, Daniel Grimley ...Monday 11th October
10:30 AM
19. SongPath at the Botanic Garden
- Jess Dandy
11 Oct 2021 10:30 | Oxford Botanic Garden
Please note this event has a limited capacity of 30 places. Jess will be leading a similar walk later in the week see Event 43. These events do not qualify for our multi-buy discount and are not included in our Festival passes. SongPath is a fantastic initiative, co-founded by contralto and former Oxford Lieder Young Artist Jess Dandy, designed to provide participants w...
3:15 PM
21. Nature's Musicians
- Laura Tunbridge
- Claire Ward
- Guy Murgatroyd
- John Krebs
11 Oct 2021 15:15 | Jacqueline du Pré Music Building
Eminent ornithologist John Krebs explains how birdsong is primarily a tool of communication, asking why something so apparently functional should also be so beautiful. He is joined by Laura Tunbridge, Fellow in Music at St Catherine’s College, for a discussion about the appearances of birdsong in poetry and music. Two exciting young musicians illustrate this with music by Messiaen, Debuss...Tuesday 12th October
11:00 AM
25a. Wandering Winter Poets: Heine & Müller
- Malachy Frame
- Joanna Neilly
- Satoshi Kubo
12 Oct 2021 11:00 | Jacqueline du Pré Music Building
This event is in two parts. One ticket give you access to both parts. 25a: 11am - 12pm, Wandering Winter Poets: Heine & Müller 25b: 3.15pm - 4.15pm, The Wanderer Click here for details about part 2 (event 25b). “I am vain enough to think that one day, when we are both gone, my name will be mentioned alongside yours.” Thus wrote Heinrich Hei...
3:15 PM
25b. The Wanderer
- Malachy Frame
- Joanna Neilly
- Satoshi Kubo
12 Oct 2021 15:15 | Jacqueline du Pré Music Building
This event is in two parts. One ticket gives you access to both parts. 25a: 11am - 12pm, Wandering Winter Poets: Heine & Müller 25b: 3.15pm - 4.15pm, The Wanderer Please see 25a: Wandering Winter Poets: Heine & Müller for ticket information Joanna Neilly continues to explore some of the key features of German romanticism: in t...Wednesday 13th October
11:00 AM
31a. The Brilliant Abyss (part 1)
- Katy Hamilton
- Harriet Burns
- Cole Knutson
- Helen Scales
13 Oct 2021 11:00 | Jacqueline du Pré Music Building
This event is in two parts. One ticket gives you acccess to both parts. 31a: 11am - 12pm, The Brilliant Abyss part 1 31b: 3.15pm - 4.15pm, The Brilliant Abyss part 2 Click here for details about part 2 (event 25b). In this fascinating two-part Song Connections event, Katy Hamilton explores perceptions of the ocean depths in poetry and song alongside the reality of...
3:15 PM
31b. The Brilliant Abyss (part 2)
- Katy Hamilton
- Harriet Burns
- Cole Knutson
- Helen Scales
- Laurence Crane
13 Oct 2021 15:15 | Jacqueline du Pré Music Building
This event is in two parts; one ticket covers both sessions. 31a: 11am - 12pm, The Brilliant Abyss part 1 31b: 3.15pm - 4.15pm, The Brilliant Abyss part 2 Please see 31a: The Beautiful Abyss part 1 for ticket information For the second part of today’s Song Connections event, Katy Hamilton and Helen Scales are joined by composer Laurence Crane...Thursday 14th October
11:00 AM
37a. Kerner, Keats and the Physician Poet
- Natasha Loges
- Dafydd Jones
- Avishka Edirisinghe
14 Oct 2021 11:00 | Jacqueline du Pré Music Building
This event is in two parts; one ticket covers both parts. 37a: 11am - 12pm, Kerner, Keats and the Physician Poet 37b: 3.15pm - 4.15pm, The Original (anti-) Vaxxers Click here for details about part 2 (event 37b). Today’s two-part Song Connections event is led by Natasha Loges and presented in association with the Royal College of Music. Natasha explores where m...
3:15 PM
37b. The Original (Anti-) Vaxxers
- Natasha Loges
- Avishka Edirisinghe
- Esme Bronwen-Smith
- Andrew Pollard
14 Oct 2021 15:15 | Jacqueline du Pré Music Building
This event is in two parts; one ticket covers both parts. 37a: 11am - 12pm, Kerner, Keats and the Physician Poet 37b: 3.15pm - 4.15pm, The Original (anti-) Vaxxers See 37a: Kerner, Keats and the Physician Poet for ticket information. The use of words and music to persuade people of the safety and efficacy of vaccines is not a solely modern phenomenon. Edward Jenner &...Friday 15th October
10:30 AM
43. SongPath at the Botanic Garden
- Jess Dandy
15 Oct 2021 10:30 | Oxford Botanic Garden
Please note this event has a limited capacity of 30 places. Jess will be leading a similar walk earlier in the week see Event 19. These events do not qualify for our multi-buy discount and are not included in our Festival passes. SongPath is a fantastic initiative, co-founded by contralto and former Oxford Lieder Young Artist Jess Dandy, designed to provide participants with...
3:15 PM
45. Flower Songs
- Richard Stokes
- Magnus Walker
- Aron Goldin
15 Oct 2021 15:15 | Jacqueline du Pré Music Building
Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder, examines Heinrich Heine’s poem ‘Du bist wie eine Blume’ (‘You are like a flower’) and four texts by Goethe, digging below the surface to reveal surprising depths to these seemingly simple flower metaphors. PRACTICAL INFORMATION This event is an in-person and livestreamed event. Livestreamed performanc...Saturday 16th October
1:30 PM
51. Harry T Burleigh
- Jean E. Snyder
- Louise Toppin
- Ann Sears
16 Oct 2021 13:30 | Jacqueline du Pré Music Building
Harry T Burleigh was one of the most influential figures in the history of American song: an African American composer and singer whose works were performed far and wide and helped shape the sound of American music. Burleigh was hugely well-known as a singer (he travelled extensively in Europe and the UK, singing for King Edward VII and visiting Oxford) and he wrote songs that were widely ...Sunday 17th October
1:30 PM
57. Talk: A Route of Evanescence
- Erica McAlpine
17 Oct 2021 13:30 | Jacqueline du Pré Music Building
This event is a pre-concert talk which will be streamed online for free. For in-person audiences, this event is only available if you have purchased a ticket for Event 58: Settings of Emily Dickinson Erica McAlpine, Associate Professor of English at the University of Oxford, introduces the poetry of Emily Dickinson, with particular reference to the role played by nature in Dic...Monday 18th October
12:00 PM
63. Composer Conversation
- Tom Coult
18 Oct 2021 12:00 | Saint John the Evangelist
This event is a pre-concert talk which will be streamed online for free. For in-person audiences, this event is only available if you have purchased a ticket for Event 64. Composer Tom Coult is an Albi Rosenthal Visiting Fellow at the Bodleian Libraries. Oxford Lieder works in partnership with the Bodleian to commission a new work as the culmination of this Fellowship. Ahead of the...Tuesday 19th October
12:00 PM
70. Birdsong
- Lucy Lapwing
19 Oct 2021 12:00 | Saint John the Evangelist
This event is a pre-concert talk which will be streamed online for free. For in-person audiences, this event is only available if you have purchased a ticket for Event 71. Hark, Hark! The Lark Naturalist and wildlife lover Lucy Lapwing is well known for her fantastic introductions to different birdsongs on BBC Radio 3. As a prelude to today’s lunchtime recital, she guides us ...Wednesday 20th October
12:00 PM
78. Composer Conversation
- Cheryl Frances-Hoad
20 Oct 2021 12:00 | Saint John the Evangelist
This event is a pre-concert talk which will be streamed online for free. For in-person audiences, this event is only available if you have purchased a ticket for Event 79: Everything Grows Extravagantly Cheryl Frances-Hoad is Oxford Lieder’s Associate Composer and she is currently a Visiting Research Fellow at Merton College. In this third and final year of her residency...Thursday 21st October
12:00 PM
86. Mahler's Huts
- Gavin Plumley
21 Oct 2021 12:00 | Saint John the Evangelist
This event is a pre-concert talk which will be streamed online for free. For in-person audiences, this event is only available if you have purchased a ticket for Event 87: Nature's Songbook Cultural historian and Mahler expert Gavin Plumley explores how Gustav Mahler needed the peace and space of nature. Retreating to remote Alpine composing huts, he was able to escape the frantic dema...Friday 22nd October
12:00 PM
94. Talk: Baudelaire at 200
- Helen Abbott
22 Oct 2021 12:00 | Saint John the Evangelist
This event is a pre-concert talk which will be streamed online for free. For in-person audiences, this event is only available if you have purchased a ticket for Event 95: Baudelaire in Song Ahead of today’s lunchtime concert, Professor Helen Abbott, a leading Baudelaire scholar and founder of the Baudelaire Song Project, introduces this beguiling poet in his 200th anniversary, ...