We are pleased to announce the programme for the forthcoming season of chamber music in Oxford’s Holywell Music Room. The Sunday afternoon concerts will take place once a month from November 2025 to May 2026. They will be performed by outstanding musicians from Finland, France, Germany, Greece, and the U.K. We look forward to another exciting season of chamber music at its finest. Season tickets are available now.
The first concert of our new season will be performed by the Kamus Quartet on the 9th November. This outstanding Finnish ensemble comes with a glowing international reputation not only for mastery of the classical string quartet repertoire but also for its exploration of contemporary works. Praised for its prize-winning recordings and performances, as “a perfectly blended group [where] the brilliance of each individual shines through” (Helsingin Sanomat). The quartet will play a new composition by Lotta Wennakoski as well as Shostakovich’s quartet No.8 and Sibelius’ quartet in D minor “Intimate voices”.
The Eusebius Quartet will play on the 7th December. Founded in 2016, the London-based quartet has gained a fine reputation for imaginative performances possessing a ‘full-blooded yet flexible tone’ (BBC Music Magazine).Their superb 2021 recording of Korngold’s chamber music met with great critical acclaim. Today’s concert will include Korngold’s quartet No1, Schubert‘s Quartettsatz and Mozart‘s “Dissonance” quartet.
Our three artists in the first concert of the New Year are well-known internationally. Ben Goldscheider, winner of the brass section of the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition, is Principal Horn in the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and is renowned as a brilliant soloist and chamber musician. James Gilchrist (tenor) and Anna Tilbrook (piano) have been delighting international audiences for over 25 years with their sensitive and moving interpretations of the Lieder repertoire. Each of their varied and compelling performances have made them firm favourites with Oxford audiences having recently performed at the Oxford International Song Festival and at Trinity College. In a superb programme on the 11th January they will perform works by Beethoven, Schumann, Schubert, and Britten.
Our concert on the 8th February will be given by the U.K.-based Coull Quartet. Reviews for this ensemble are outstanding, with The Strad commenting: “Here the playing is so brimful with enthusiasm and commitment, and at the same time so infused with the accumulated wisdom of three decades, that the music simply reinvents itself as it should”. They will play for us a program of superb chamber music from Haydn, Shostakovich, and Dvořák.
We welcome the Ensemble Molière on the 8th March. This French ensemble established a strong reputation across the UK and Europe. With its distinctive combination of instruments – flute, violin, viola da gamba/cello and harpsichord – it specialises in 17th and 18th century repertoire and has won acclaim at leading Baroque and Early Music festivals. This afternoon it will perform its ‘Hidden Gems’ programme – a diverse, beautiful and rarely-heard collection of French baroque chamber music.
On the 12th April the Quatuor Modigliani make a return visit to Oxford following their sell-out concert at the Sheldonian in 2023. One of the most sought-after quartets in the world, they perform annually in the USA and Asia and on numerous European tours, winning an array of prizes and awards. They have established a remarkable reputation for the quality of their musicianship in performance, their encouragement of younger performers through masterclasses and workshops, and their exploration of contemporary music. In addition to two compositions for string quartet by György Kurtág, they will play Haydn’s quartet Op77 No2 and Brahms’ quartet Op51 No1. (Please Note: This is one of our occasional ‘premium’ concerts for which the price of an individual ticket is £30.)
Rounding off our season we are delighted to present the Trio Gaspard. The trio has been widely praised for their fresh approach to well-known classics and their work with contemporary composers. They have explored their discoveries with audiences at prestigious venues around the world. On May 17th they will share with us their curiosity for uncovering repertoire with pieces by Olli Mustonen and Patricia Kopatchinskaya, as well as giving performances of much-loved works by Haydn, Liszt, and Schubert.
Images are subject to copyright by each group.
