Past Events

The North Wall celebrates Oxfordshire Art Weeks throughout May with a wonderful exhibition of paintings by Elaine Kazimierzcuk. Since establishing a studio in Oxford in 2016, Elaine Kazimierczuk has rapidly won admiration for her original landscape paintings. Whether she’s painting an English cottage garden, a Tuscany hillside or a palace in Marrakech, her unique style is both inventive and arousing, revealing a strong emotional response to the environment. She combines elements of landscape with painterly abstraction, interweaving direct observation with remembered places…

Sat 30 May, 10.30am–4pm Lecture Theatre With Anne Desmet RA, Colin Harrison, Senior Curator of European Art, and Simon Lawrence of the Fleece Press This academic conference explores the history of the Society of Wood Engravers from its beginning in 1920 and will provide background to the choice of prints shown in the Scene through Wood exhibition. Learn more about the practice and the personalities that have chosen engraving as an art form. £50/£45/£40 Full, Concessions, Members.

BEETHOVEN     Fidelio, Op. 72 Complete concert performance Emma Bell Leonore Andrew Staples Florestan Full cast to be announced Marios Papadopoulos conductor Courage, persistence and liberty are the central themes of Fidelio, Beethoven’s only opera, but he called on all three qualities to write the score in the first place. As in every other form he touched, Beethoven opened new doors in opera too – striving to fuse melodrama, operatic set-piece and symphonic thinking and adumbrating a thrilling, fertile new path in the…

MENDELSSOHN   The Hebrides Overture, Op. 26, ‘Fingal's Cave’ (Side-by-Side) BUTTERWORTH   The Banks of Green Willow VAUGHAN WILLIAMS The Lark Ascending BEETHOVEN     Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, ‘Pastoral’ * Charlotte Scott violin Marios Papadopoulos conductor* Hannah Schneider conductor The contrast from Beethoven’s insistent fifth symphony to his idyllic sixth couldn’t be more marked. From pounding heroism, Beethoven takes his listeners for a restorative walk in the countryside with his sixth, which quickly attracted the nickname ‘Pastoral’. Here,…

This is Oxfordshire MG Owners Club 21st annual event at the Park and the largest gathering of MGs in the county. All classic and modern MGs are welcome. Last year attracted around 500 varied models of the historic MG motor car marque! www.oxfordshiremgoc.co.uk  

FUNomusica Family Concert Most suitable for ages 4-8 Alasdair Malloy presenter Isn’t our planet amazing and wonderful? In this concert, we will celebrate the natural beauty of the Earth with music inspired by wonders of nature and different landscapes. We’ll travel from the blue of the ocean to the red of the desert, and from the green of the rainforest, to the white of the icecaps, on a global journey with music to fill your senses and encourage your imagination. Pre-concert…

The concert will be at 5pm in the beautiful Amphitheatre at Waterperry Gardens. If the weather is poor, it will be in the spacious restaurant/café. Bring a picnic for the extended interval. Oxford's much-toured 4-piece band, Moonrakers (Celtic harp, cello, stringed instruments, whistles, female/male vocals), pride themselves on having brought traditional and contemporary folk music to new audiences in festivals, arts centres, churches and village halls across the UK in recent years. With songs and tunes from the English, Irish…

The Museum's Knit Knot and Natter Craft Group meet in the Museum Cafe every 3rd Friday of the month. Bring along your own craft projects, take tuition from current members in crafts such as knitting, crochet and embroidery or just come along for a cuppa and a chat. Free to join but we do ask you support the Cafe. No need to book in advance, just come along on the day

CAROL J JONES     The Light Thief* RICHARD STRAUSS   Oboe Concerto in D major, TrV 292 WAGNER  Prelude to Act III from Lohengrin 'Was duftet doch der Flieder' from Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg Ride of the Valkyries from Die Walküre Wotan’s Farewell and Magic Fire Music from Die Walküre Sir Bryn Terfel bass-baritone Clara Dent oboe Marios Papadopoulos conductor Hannah Schneider conductor* There is no voice on earth quite like Sir Byrn Terfel’s. Here, the bass-baritone joins the Orchestra for some of the most monumental moments in Wagner,…

Set in the stunning grounds of Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, the Blenheim Palace Flower show returns for its eighth year from Friday 26th – Sunday 28th June 2020.   More than 24,000 people attended the 2019 show, which was opened by TV presenter George Clarke and featured a circus theme.  Plans for some new, bigger features for 2020 are already well underway, meaning it will be another unmissable event.   2020 will see the return of…

Almost all marques of RS cars will be on display at the show with members travelling from all over the country. This includes Mk 1 Escorts to present day Mk 2 Focus RS will be shown. Contact: Oxford-rsoc@live.co.uk

BEETHOVEN     Die Weihe des Hauses Overture, Op. 124 Ah! perfido, Op. 65 Mass in C major, Op. 86 Eilana Lappalainen soprano Marta Fontanals-Simmons mezzo-soprano Joshua Ellicott tenor Božidar Smiljanić bass Choir to be announced Peter Tiboris conductor Beethoven’s primary concern in his radiant Mass in C major was ‘not God or princes, but the human being entering the church.’ A combination of spirituality and humanity can be felt in almost every bar of the piece, which treated the text and sentiments of the…

Wantage Country Market is held in the Museum Cafe every Friday morning. The best place to buy fresh homemade goodies such as jams, chutneys and cakes as well as home grown fruit, vegetables and flowers. They also have some crafts, including cards, aprons & knitted baby wear. *Please note this market is not organised by the Museum, the Wantage Country Market is a separate organisation.

The Museum Book Group enjoy a wide selection of books with all members choosing their reading list then they get together in the Museum Cafe every second Friday of the month. It is free to attend but we do ask you support the Cafe. For more information and to join call the Museum on 01235 771447, email info@valeanddownlandmuseum.org.uk or send us a message.