(Credit: Marco Borggreve Simon Canetty)

The Oxford Lieder Festival is set to present a program of over 40 events streamed over the course of eight days, running from October 10 – 17, 2020.

Titled, “Connections Across Time: A Brief History of Song,” the festival will also include live study events, masterclasses, pre-recorded talks and interviews, listening notes, curated playlists, and more.

Among the announced artists are Artists in Residence Ian Bostridge and Carolyn Sampson, as well as Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Sarah Connolly, Lucy Crowe, James Gilchrist, Roderick Williams, and Christoph Pregardien. Contemporary quartet The Hermes Experiment will premiere a work by Philip Venables.

Each evening’s concert will open with a group of Schubert songs, performed by emerging artists who have been particularly affected by the industry shutdown. The concerts will be held in venues throughout Oxford, such as the Radcliffe Observatory, the Huxley Room of the Museum of Natural History, as well as Broughton Castle and Rycote Chapel.

“There was never any doubt in my mind that we needed to proceed with a Festival this year, and I was eager to explore and exploit the opportunities to be found in an online format,” writes Artistic Director Sholto Kynoch in a press statement. “So we have been working on a trailblazing project with many of our favorite internationally renowned artists performing in venues around Oxford and streamed in superb quality. Although we are eager to be back sharing music in person – we are laying plans for a tremendous celebration of our 20th anniversary next year – I hope you’ll share our excitement at the rich program we have on offer.”