25 March & 1 April, 2025
The Oxford Lent Concerts, a brainchild of Jan and Jonathan Spurlock Stockland, dedicated supporters of the Oxford Interfaith Forum, is back by popular demand to evoke a unique reflective experience for the 2025 Lent. The concerts were brought to life by Jan and Jonathan’s collaboration with Heather Birt and Professor Owen Rees (for the musical elements). The idea of Oxford Lent Concerts was conceived as a distinctive opportunity for Lenten reflection, and is delivered by a committed group of artists, local singers, instrumentalists, and volunteers. These Oxford-unique events create an extraordinary atmosphere by offering a fascinating combination of art and music, marking the period of Lent, and have taken place in the Queen’s College Chapel since 2006 (see the historical records at the end of the page).
In 2025, the organisers offer the two rare evenings infused with music, visual art, wonder, and contemplation.
Set in the magnificently ornamented chapel, consecrated by the Archbishop of York on All Saints’ Day in 1719, and decorated with a beautiful ceiling of fretwork (pictured below), each concert begins and ends with a setting of the words Vox in Rama – the biblical text shared by Jewish and Christian Scriptures: A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more. (Jer.3:15 and Mat.2:18). These words are associated with the service for ‘Holy Innocents’, calling to mind the story of the mothers of Bethlehem weeping for their children whom Herod’s soldiers have killed, echoing an earlier passage where Rachel is described as weeping over her children who are being transported into captivity in Babylon. The short-hand name of the lament is Vox in Rama.
(Courtesy of Queen’s College)
Dates: 25 March, and 1 April, 2025
Time: 18:15-19:00 BST
Venue: Queen’s College Chapel, High Street, Oxford, OX1 4AW
Cost: FREE; first come, first-served
(Courtesy of Queen’s College)
In our day, lamentations over the death and deportation of children is sadly very relevant. Grief like this inspired many composers in the Renaissance. The audience will hear music by the Spaniard Bernardino de Ribera, the Englishman George Kirbye, the Netherlandish composer Clemens non Papa, and the Franco-Flemish Giaches de Wert. Within this musical framework, the audience will hear a wide range of other music dating from the sixteenth to the twenty-first centuries. The music and art reflect the themes of Lent and Passiontide.
Visual Art: The organisers remind us that in previous centuries Lent was more strictly observed, public entertainments were closed and special devotional music was composed. Alongside a carefully selected six pieces of music, Jan and Jonathan have arranged for four artists – Alison Berrett, Nicholas Mynheer, Tim Steward, and Roger Wagner -to produce an image or icon linked to the theme. The concerts approach and invite reflection from many angles, including through the inspiring works of art created by local artists and displayed in the chapel during the concert. After each concert, the audience is invited to reflect on contemporary icons, created by the local artist, allowing the public to have their art as a reflection focus in the usual silences between pieces.
The 2025 Oxford Lent Concerts will shine a light on thirteen composers who lived and wrote from the 16th to the 21st centuries. The singers who come together annually for these concerts, include undergraduate and postgraduate students, academic staff of the University, and local singers. All donations received in the voluntary retiring collection can go to charity, all the artists, vocalist and instrumentalists taking part in these concerts are donating their time and talent without charge.
The Concert I will be played entirely on period instruments.
Programme of Concert I
Bernardino de Ribera (c. 1520-c. 1580): Vox in Rama
Josquin des Prez (c. 1450-1521): Mille regretz
Matthew Locke (c. 1621-1677): Audi Domine clamantes ad te
Cristóbal de Morales (1500-1553): Agnus Dei (Missa Mille regretz)
Johann Heinrich Schmelzer (c. 1620/23 -1680): Sonata Lamentevole
George Kirbye (c. 1565-1634): Vox in Rama
Choir Director: Owen Rees
Soprano: Sally Dunkley (tbc), Jessica Edgar, Bethan Rose, Holly Smith
Alto: Tim Dallosso, Pete Dockrill, Eliana Dunford, Rhiannon Evans, Jess Norton Raybould, Nick Perkins
Tenor: Sam Chichester-Clark, Edwin Simpson, Barnabas Sharp
Bass: Tom Constantinou, Andrew Hannaford, Benjamin Thompson
Instrumentalists
Violin: Linda Hannah-Andersson, Miranda Walton
Viola: Vanessa McNaught
Cello: Judith Dallosso
Chamber Organ: Owen Rees
Icons by Alison Berrett and Tim Steward
After the final piece, Prayer by Ernest Bloch, the audience is warmly invited to speak with the artists, who will stand alongside the paintings.
(Courtesy of Queen’s College)
The College’s famous organ, built by the Danish firm of Frobenius in 1965,
remains one of the finest instruments in the country.
(Courtesy of Queen’s College)
Programme of Concert II
Jacobus Clemens non Papa (c.1510- c. 1555/6): Vox in Rama
Thomas Morley (1557-1602): De profundis
Caroline Shaw (b. 1982): Punctum
Johann Christoph Bach (1642-1703): Ach dass ich Wassers g’nug hätte
Tomás Luis de Victoria (c. 1548 \u2013 1611): Agnus Dei (Missa Quarti toni)
Myroslav Skoryk (1938 – 2020): Melody in A Minor
Giaches de Wert (1535-1596): Vox in Rama
Choir Director: Owen Rees
Soprano: Sally Dunkley, Jessica Edgar, Jemima Kinley, Bethan Rose, Tanya Simpson, Holly Smith
Alto: Sarah Coatsworth, Tim Dallosso, Pete Dockrill, Eliana Dunford, Rhiannon Evans, Jess Norton Raybould
Tenor: Barnabas Sharp, Edwin Simpson
Bass: Tom Constantinou, Benjamin Thompson
Instrumentalists
Violin: TBC
Viola: TBC
Cello: TBC
Chamber Organ: TBC
Icons by Nicholas Mynheer and Roger Wagner
After the final piece, Prayer by Ernest Bloch, the audience is warmly invited to speak with the artists, who will stand alongside the paintings.
The Guardian, sculpture by Nicholas Mynheer
Corpus of Christ, sculpture by Nicholas Mynheer
