Many congratulations to St Hilda’s students Olivia Geddes (Geography) and Oliver Simpson (Music), who took part in a concert performing side-by-side with the world-famous Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in the Sheldonian Theatre on 7 May. Two of only three university student string players selected, Liv (violin) and Ollie (cello) are both members of the University’s period-instrument ensemble, the Bate Collective, directed by our Director of College Music, Dr Jonathan Williams.
The prestigious event – which renews the OAE’s relationship with Oxford scholarship, first established with a concert of Rameau’s Anacréon with Jonathan in 2012 – was organised by the Cultural Programme to celebrate the Bodleian Library’s extraordinary acquisition of an autograph score by Bach. This sixteen-page manuscript of his Ascension Day cantata, Auf Christi Himmelfahrt allein (BWV 128), three hundred years old this month, is one of only three in Bach’s own hand in the UK.
In addition to four of Bach’s works, a packed audience enjoyed performances conducted by Bach expert John Butt, featuring the OAE and the Choir of New College, Oxford, as well as Upwards by Honorary Fellow Dame Judith Weir (commissioned for the occasion), and new works by composers at our sister college, St Anne’s.