20th Oxford Lieder Festival has special connection with Merton

Professor Daniel Grimley, Douglas Algar Fellow and Tutor in Music at Merton, is one of the presenters of Celebrating Stenhammar, a two-part study event taking place this Sunday, 10 October - the event will be live-streamed, and both parts will be illustrated with live music, including various songs and a complete performance of Stenhammar’s glorious piano suite Nights of Late Summer.

The College’s Visiting Fellow in the Creative Arts, Cheryl Frances-Hoad, is the festival’s Associate Composer, and has been co-commissioned by Oxford Lieder & Oxford Botanic Garden to write a new song cycle in celebration of the Festival's 20th and the Botanic Garden's 400th anniversaries, with new poetry by Kate Wakeling. Everything Grows Extravagantly will be performed by Marcus Farnsworth and Libby Burgess at 1:00pm on Wednesday 20 October at SJE Arts, and available live and on-demand via the Digital Concert Hall. Cheryl will also be giving a pre-concert talk at 12:00 noon that day.

The College Choir sings Choral Evensong at 6:15pm on Thursday 21 October and will include a new set of Preces and Responses by Cheryl. All are welcome to attend; the service can also be watched via Oxford Lieder's Digital Concert Hall and the choir’s YouTube channel.

Oxford Lieder presents Song Futures: Cheryl Frances-Hoad, part of the OLF’s Song Connections film series available online only via the Digital Concert Hall from 8 October to 30 November. This film explores the creation of Cheryl’s major new song cycle, Everything Grows Extravagantly. Cheryl provides insight into her collaboration with poet Kate Wakeling, her time as an Oxford Lieder composer, and her role as a Visiting Fellow in the Creative Arts at Merton.

• Ticket information and all other details can be found on The Oxford Lieder Festival website.
• Oxford Lieder Festival review — a wonderful premiere inspired by nature - The Times
• A Review of Cheryl Frances-Hoad’s everything grows extravagantly - Cherwell