Header: David Levene
The Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre, a new world-class centre for the Arts and Humanities in Oxford, launches its public programme in April of this year with a day of events and performances.
“We are thrilled to unveil this unique and exciting programme, developed by leading artists and performers working with Oxford research and researchers, for the opening of the Schwarzman Centre. We look forward to welcoming audiences of all ages and backgrounds to the Centre for the April opening celebration and beyond.”
Alexandra Vincent MBE, Managing Director of Schwarzman Centre, University of Oxford
The opening acts
The Schwarzman Centre’s inaugural programme presents two major focus-themed seasons:
- “Unfinished Revolutions” (from May to June) explores the legacy of the 1776 US Declaration of Independence, featuring Cécile McLorin Salvant, Taylor Mac, Anna Clyne and American street dance superstar Lil Buck.
- “Utopia Now!” (from October to November) invites audiences to be inspired by utopian thinking and imagines bold futures with highlights including a new commission by Nitin Sawhney and a History of Utopia, led by Brian Eno and Kim Stanley Robinson.
The opening programme includes the launch of the new 500-seat Sohmen Concert Hall, with performances by the Scottish Ensemble. Audiences can also see the world premiere of 360 Vessels by artist Es Devlin and composer Nico Muhly with chamber choir Schola Cantorum, to be performed beneath the glass dome of the Great Hall.
Artists Anna Ridler and Refik Anadol will each present digital works that have been created using AI. Additional performances include ZooNation’s The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party in the new theatre, along with a line-up of artists, including groundbreaking Head over Wheels and physical theatre company Justice in Motion.
A rich cultural programme
The Schwarzman Centre’s cultural programme, directed by John Fulljames, will offer fresh new experiences for audiences, drawing on the research and teaching excellence of the University of Oxford and placing experimentation and co-creation at its heart. Central to the programme are the Schwarzman Centre Cultural Fellows, a group of outstanding artists from around the world who are collaborating with Oxford’s leading academics to create pioneering new work.
“We can’t wait to welcome people from across the region into this new public home for the humanities. It’s a place where we can all come together to make sense of what it means to be human in today’s world. With a free opening celebration including music, theatre, dance, cabaret, spectacle and more, we can promise a chance to connect with both some much-loved stories and artists as well as encounter something new and surprising.”
John Fulljames, Director of the Cultural Programme
9 spaces for the Arts and Humanities
The public performance spaces include the 500-seat Sohmen Concert Hall, complete with state-of-the-art flexible acoustics that make it the world’s first Passivhaus concert hall; a 250-seat theatre; a black box immersive performance space and a white box exhibition gallery; a dance studio; cinema; the Great Hall, a museum for the display of the renowned Bate Collection of historic musical instruments; a café and bar, all set in landscaped gardens.
The state-of-the-art spaces co-locate seven of Oxford University’s internationally recognised Humanities faculties for the first time: Music, English Language and Literature, History, Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics, Mediaeval and Modern Languages, Philosophy, and Theology and Religion. The Centre will also house the Institute for Ethics in AI, created in 2019 as part of the announcement of the Centre, the Oxford Internet Institute and the new Bodleian Humanities Library.
A performance-driven architecture
The Schwarzman Centre has been designed by leading British architects, Hopkins Architects, and developed by the University of Oxford with the support of the largest single gift in modern times made to the university from philanthropist and businessman Stephen A. Schwarzman.
The Schwarzman Centre is organised around access and shared use, with a new public route running through the building like an internal street. This route links a series of public spaces and leads to the Great Hall, a four-storey atrium with entrances to the faculties on each side, study carrels above and a domed timber-and-glass skylight bringing light down into the centre. Below, the performance spaces are located around a foyer that can also be used informally. From the outside, the 25,300 square metre building is broken into smaller blocks in Clipsham stone and brick, with colonnades, landscaping and outdoor “rooms”.
