News – the 25th Oxford International Song Festival ‘Love Songs’, 9-24 October 2026

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from the press release. Picture of Benjamin Appl (c) David Murano

The Oxford International Song Festival marks its 25th anniversary with a thrilling and wide-ranging programme centred on the theme of love. Spanning 59 events, the Festival explores love in its myriad forms – its joys, complexities, and heartbreaks expressed in music and poetry, and its creative force in the lives of composers and poets. Alongside headline recitals by world-leading artists, audiences can enjoy lunchtime, rush-hour and late-night concerts, as well as study events. The programme is further enriched by choral music, dance, chamber works and discussions.

The Festival opens on 9 October with a recital by Dame Sarah Connolly, also marking the Festival’s first event at the newly opened Schwarzman Centre. Baritone Matthias Goerne makes his Festival debut on 10 October with a performance of Schubert’s Winterreise at the Olivier Hall. Other featured singers include Carolyn Sampson, Benjamin Appl, Katie Bray, Roderick Williams, Alice Coote, Katharina Ruckgaber, Johannes Kammler, Camilla Tilling, Sarah Maria Sun, Anna Prohaska and Christoph Prégardien. They are joined by pianists including Joseph Middleton, Tamara Stefanovich, James Baillieu and Pauliina Tukiainen, among many others, including the Festival’s Artistic Director, Sholto Kynoch.

The programme includes several world premieres: Nardus Williams performs Marriage of…?, a new work by Associate Composer Emily Hazrati and librettist Nazli Tabatabai-Khatambahksh; Katy Thomson and Rustam Khanmurzin premiere a new work by John Webb, exploring the corrupting nature of power; and Anna Dennis and John Reid present The Silent Songs of Josefine, a bold new Kafka-inspired work by Can Bilir.

The Festival’s central weekend (17–18 October) is devoted to the music of Franz Schubert, with Graham Johnson continuing his landmark exploration of the composer’s final years, 200 years on. Other highlights of the weekend include Camilla Tilling returning to perform Schubert’s Rückert settings and Helen Charlston (below) performing Die Schöne Müllerin, both with Sholto Kynoch; and Sarah Maria Sun performing Der Hirt auf dem Felsen with pianist Jan Philip Schulze and clarinettist Julian Bliss.

On Wednesday 21 October, the New Generation Day showcases three concerts in partnership with the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme, all recorded for future broadcast. Performers include baritone Andrew Hamilton and pianist Michael Pandya; soprano Erika Baikoff with Sholto Kynoch; and Konstantin Krimmel with Ammiel Bushakevitz, presenting a programme that includes Vaughan Williams’ Songs of Travel.

Louise Alder and Joseph Middleton explore the passing of the year in a programme featuring Helen Grime’s Seasons, written for them in 2025. Alice Coote and Julius Drake present an imaginative recital blending repertoire from David Bowie to Mozart. Renowned pianist Dame Imogen Cooper performs Hugo Wolf’s Italienisches Liederbuch as part of her final concert season before retirement. Juliane Banse returns with pianist Alexander Krichel, dancer István Simon and choreographer Andreas Heise for a danced performance of Mozart songs and piano music.

Instrumental highlights include appearances by the Carducci String Quartet, performing the Mozart Quintet with Julian Bliss and Alec Roth’s Seven Elements with James Gilchrist, guitarists Bryan Brenner and Václav Fuksa, and accordionist Murray Grainger. Eight Oxford Song Young Artist duos each give short showcase slots at the start of headline evening recitals in the first week of the Festival. In the second week, they immerse themselves in the residential Mastercourse, led by Jan Philip Schulze, with daily public masterclasses.

With thousands of tickets priced under £20, discounts for multiple bookings, and £10 tickets available for under-35s, the Festival remains accessible to the widest possible audience.

Each autumn, audiences from around the world are drawn to Oxford for the Festival’s outstanding artistic quality and the city’s unique atmosphere. Performances take place in a range of venues, including the historic Holywell Music Room – Europe’s oldest purpose-built concert hall – as well as the Levine Building, the Olivier Hall, Garsington Studios at the Wormsley Estate and, for the first time, spaces within the Schwarzman Centre.

Public booking opens on Wednesday 20 May. Tickets can be booked online at oxfordsong.org or via the Box Office on 01865 591276 (Monday to Friday, 11am–1pm).

Published post no.2,878 – Tuesday 5 May 2026

Switched On – BUNKR: Signals (VLSI)

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Reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

The roots of Signals can be found in the Surrey Hills. There, James Dean witnessed a phosphorescent sphere in the sky above Pitch Hill, close to the Mullard Space Science Laboratory; a phenomenon seen by friends and reported in the local press.

The memory has stayed with Dean since, and now he uses his BUNKR alias to tell the story of the hills and their significance in his life, whether this mysterious event, childhood bicycle adventures or post-midnight raves.

What’s the music like?

Typically engaging, but this time around BUNKR’s music has more subtle yet far-reaching emotional depth. The Light We Saw paints an evocative picture of that night, but is only the beginning of the story, continued by the spacious 96 Refraction, where dreamy synth loops encounter distant breakbeats on the horizon, their initial ambience cleverly pivoted for them to take control of the track.

Quarry Transcendence is a hive of rhythmic activity, over and above the held chords, while the reflective These Hills goes into deeper, more thoughtful territory. Eyes Like Mirrors plays out without beats, a thick cloud of ambience that sparkles at the edges – the ‘sci-fi daydream’ that Dean hints at in his album commentary. This Side Of Forever wraps up the vision beautifully, a coda of analogue drums and bright synth lines glinting at the edges.

Does it all work?

It does, and thanks to clever sequencing the album has a really satisfying ebb and flow the whole way through.

Is it recommended?

Yes, with enthusiasm. BUNKR is becoming a real force to be reckoned with in electronic music, and this descriptive album is another valuable string to his bow.

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,877 – Monday 4 May 2026

On this day – anniversaries for Marcel Dupré & Adolphe Adam

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by Ben Hogwood. Image by La Presse, courtesy of Wikipedia

Two French composers share significant anniversaries on this day. The first, organist-composer Marcel Dupré, was born on this day 140 years ago. His innovations for the instrument were many, and here is one of his most thrilling works – the early Prelude and Fugue in B major, once proclaimed to be ‘unplayable’ by fellow composer Charles-Marie Widor:

Sharing this anniversary is Adolphe Adam, who died on this day 170 years ago, in 1856. One of his most celebrated works is the ballet Giselle, premiered in 1841 with the ballerina Carlotta Grisi in the title role (below). The ballet, conducted by Herbert von Karajan, can be listened to below:

Published post no.2,876 – Sunday 3 May 2026

On this day 90 years ago – the first performance of Prokofiev’s ‘Peter and the Wolf’

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by Ben Hogwood. Image courtesy of Wikipedia

On this day in 1936, the first performance took place of Prokofiev’s much-loved Peter and the Wolf. This piece was commissioned by the Central Children’s Theatre in Moscow, and given its first performance on May 2 in the Large Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. Prokofiev dedicated the work to his children.

You can enjoy the witty and touching setting below, in an arrangement for chamber ensemble at the Royal College of Music, narrated by Lucy Hollins and conducted by Sam Scheer:

Published post no.2,875 – Saturday 2 May 2026

Switched On – Juha Mäki-Patola: Momentary Movements of Landscapes (130701)

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Reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Juha Mäki-Patola’s third solo album is his first release for FatCat Records’ post-classical imprint 130701.

It consists of twelve carefully composed and intricately layered pieces, “built around upright piano and Prophet 10 loops processed through tape echo and reverb”. The linked pieces were recorded during the dark winter of 2024–2025, where Mäki-Patola sought light and solace through memory and imagination. The pieces look to blend memories with the present for times of healing.

The album was recorded live in Juha’s Helsinki studio, using tape-based processing techniques, and with guests including his daughter Frida, Jessica Hébert, Tapani Rinne and Julia Gjertsen – with the addition of vocals, violin and bass clarinet.

What’s the music like?

Deeply calming. Rather than suggest a dark winter, this is music that captures the rarefied light Helsinki often experiences. The twelve movements have a simple musical language, but that is their strength – musical gestures that are easy to listen to, but which set an atmosphere all of their own.

Often the music hangs in the air like a suspended cloud, free of hassle but progressing onwards in a fluid and attractive way. Many of the moments are free of obvious melody, free to wallow in the bright textures that Mäki-Patola has formed. Moment 2 is one of those, while Moment 3 steps back for thoughtful introspection before introducing a lovely, thick duvet of sound to dive into.

Moment 6 is led by softly voiced keyboards with mottled textures around, before Moment 7 drops the frequency effectively for a slow, mellow stream of consciousness. Yet this turns out to be a prelude to the blissful Moment 8, where languid guitar hovers over a reassuringly dense drone. Moment 10 is similarly calming with its lazy loops, while Moment 12 ends with waves of calm.

Does it all work?

It works, through being a natural evolution of musical thinking. Mäki-Patola doesn’t try too hard at any point, being comfortable to let the music forge its own path – which it does effortlessly.

Is it recommended?

Momentary Movements of Landscapes is a deeply restful time out for the listener, at the same time offering pinpricks of light in the darkness. It is a cleansing experience, slowing the heartbeat and softening the soul.

For fans of… William Basinski, Tim Hecker, Stars Of The Lid, Machinefabriek

Listen / Buy

Published post no.2,874 – Friday 1 May 2026