Season 2025/2026

(Pictured: Robert Dean [right] with our Patron Sir Thomas Allen, who joined us to sing in the chorus for our final concert on February 28 2026.)

We took great pride this season in celebrating 20 years since the very first of our Oxford “Come and Sing” performances. Over the years, we have immensely enjoyed the loyalty, commitment, and musical spirit of our singers. Together, we have raised thousands of pounds for worthy causes – first for The Art Room; more recently for organisations dedicated to nurturing creativity in schools and inspiring young people to discover the joy of music and song; or other organisations who are helping the homeless – or those in detention – to experience how singing can help to build self-respect and confidence.

But all good things must come to an end – eventually. So we made the difficult decision that this year’s concert would also be our final Oxford Orpheus Concert. We wanted to finish with a celebration, so it felt fitting to return to the piece with which it all began in 2006. By once more raising our voices together in Messiah, we came full circle – bringing to a close not only a concert, but 20 remarkable years of music-making, fellowship, and shared joy. It was HALLELUJAH! with a  performance of the Goossens-Beecham version of this wonderful composition.  As the Oxford Times headlined it in their article of 12 February, we decided to ‘go out with a bang!’

And we did: 178 Oxford Orpheus singers, an Oxford Sinfonia Orchestra of 50, a delighted audience of 275 (including the Mayor of Oxford).

Robert Dean, whose dream it was to conduct this special version of the piece, sent this message to all of us about our wonderful finale and his wider reflections on the years of Oxford Orpheus:

And so, the final Hallelujah, together with a worthy Amen, has been sung. What a joyous occasion the last Oxford Orpheus concert proved to be. Your wonderful contribution to the proceedings far exceeded all my expectations.
Messiah has a unique way of bringing everyone together in a shared striving for excellence, and it provided a remarkable and fitting conclusion to 20 years of singing together and so many memorable concerts. It has been an important part of my conducting life—something I always eagerly anticipated, albeit with a certain apprehension as to whether we could truly achieve the impossible and bring everything together in a single day.
No matter how challenging the repertoire, you always rose magnificently to the occasion, singing tirelessly throughout the day and triumphing in performance. How fortunate we have been to work with the Oxford Sinfonia, whose loyal support has accompanied us year after year, along with a wealth of outstanding soloists—many at the beginning of their careers, some returning multiple times because they so loved the atmosphere of the day.
Many of these artists have gone on to achieve great things (see below). Our Patron, Sir Thomas Allen—whom you may remember as the distinguished soloist in our entente cordiale concert of music by Fauré and Vaughan Williams in 2019—asked if he might sing in the chorus for Messiah, and was visibly moved by the experience. It was a deeply touching gesture, and his wish to be part of the chorus made the occasion even more special for us all.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for so many thrilling musical memories, and for your loyalty and enthusiasm throughout the years. None of this would have been possible without you. I bid you the fondest of farewells and hope that you will continue to find great joy in your singing in the years ahead.

Leo Pitt – our founder and Chair of Oxford Orpheus – has added her own reflections on what a very special experience it has all been:

It is now twenty years since Robert and I first began working together in what would become Oxford Orpheus. The whole project became such an important part of my life, so that I too have many heartfelt thanks to convey.

For a start I want to thank Annette Mayer who first had the idea of a “Come and Sing Messiah” in aid of The Art Room Charity, where she was chair of trustees, thus sowing the seeds of what we became. Those of you who were present at our last triumphant Messiah concert will have heard her brief account of how it all came about.

Although over the ensuing years it sometimes felt like a Sisyphean task rolling the boulder up the mountain to organise our workshops and concert, it was always hugely rewarding. I would not have been able to keep going however, without the selfless and generous help of our Trustees: David Feeny, our meticulous and unflappable Treasurer; Andy Button, who so brilliantly has mastered the art of crowd control with his administration and logistics; Ingrid Lunt, who gave me such enthusiastic support from the very start; and Rosie Martin, the organiser of our fantastic team of volunteers!

Then there are so many more people to thank – all the members of Oxford Sinfonia who played their hearts out for every concert, and our hugely talented accompanist James Brown – who often played the organ during our concerts as well. We also were fortunate to have the help and support of Nikos and the staff of The Wesley Memorial Church where we were so comfortably housed for our workshops; and also of Sue Varney and all the staff at Oxford Town Hall who welcomed us every year to the scene of our glorious concerts!

So much went into planning and communicating our events and crucial to that was the work of Jeremy Smith who was involved from the very beginning – designer of our logo and then all our beautiful publicity material, and programmes, so many thanks there too.

Robert has already mentioned our patron Sir Tom Allen – his warm support gave us so much confidence to continue, year after year.

And almost the most exciting thing for me has been to meet and sing with wonderful young soloists – many of them Robert’s pupils – and to delight in their ensuing successful careers. More thanks and best wishes to them!

Finally: to everyone who came and sang over the years – some of you EVERY time; and also to those no longer with us; but most of all to Robert our most inspiring conductor: THANK YOU!

It has been a privilege.

 

OUR SOLOISTS: where are (some of them) now?
James Newby (Five Mystical Songs) has become a recitalist par excellence, regularly selling out Wigmore Hall, and will sing Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia at Grange Park Festival this summer. Dominic Sedgwick (Elijah) enjoys a busy international career and will appear as Danilo in The Merry Widow at the Buxton Festival this summer. Hye-Youn Lee (two Verdi Requiems and three other concerts) has established herself internationally as a leading Madama Butterfly, and will sing Liù in a new production of Turandot at Scottish Opera this autumn. Olivia Ray (Verdi Requiem, Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle, etc.) is now a regular soloist with the Three Choirs Festival, appearing this year in Gloucester. Ashley Riches (Dvořák Stabat Mater) has become a sought-after and renowned soloist, particularly in oratorio repertoire. David Ireland (Verdi Requiem) sang Figaro to great acclaim in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro at ENO this season. Clare Presland (Dvořák) has developed a distinguished career in contemporary repertoire, while Andrew Goodwin (Dvořák) enjoys a busy concert life in his native Sydney. Jacob Harrison (Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle and our post-Covid concert of 2021) takes up a position as a company artist in Weimar this season, and Tom McGowan (Brahms Requiem, Verdi Requiem) is now a company artist at the Gärtnerplatztheater in Munich.Liam Bonthrone (Elijah) made his Danish National Opera debut as Count Almaviva in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglialast season, and his Royal Opera House, Covent Garden debut as Pong in Turandot this season. And most recently Matthew McKinney (Messiah) premiered a new composition by James MacMillan Angels Unawares in the Sistine Chapel with The Sixteen on March 22nd broadcast on Radio 3 and was described in the Guardian review as “the outstanding young tenor”. Benedict Nelson, who sang as bass soloist in our very first Messiah, has been a company artist in Gelsenkirchen for some years and will sing Verdi’s Macbeth at the Longborough Festival this summer.