We have announced our termcard for Hilary Term 2012. You can use this link to download a PDF version; a hard copy will be pidged to all college members. There is an excellent range of concerts and recitals. Remember to put the dates in your diaries! Full details of the recitals and choir concerts can be found on our recitals page and the choir termcard.

Our annual Freshers’ Concert will take place on Thursday of 2nd week (26th January, 8pm, Somerville Chapel). Talented first-year undergraduates including Robert Smith (piano), Orly Watson (piano), Isabel Sinagola, Martin Engelcke, Rosemary Pearce and Sian Davila will be playing works by Debussy, Rachmaninov, Liszt and others. There will be a post-concert drinks party in the college bar afterwards.

On Tuesday of 8th week (29th November 2011, 8pm) Choir of Somerville College presents an end of term concert at St Giles’ Church which will feature a selection of favourite anthems. The programme includes choral works by Tippett, Górecki, Ireland, Miškinis and Monteverdi as well as a number of songs and arias/duets performed by members of the choir. Admission is free; there will be a retiring collection in aid of Somerville Choir's summer tour.

Join the Choir of Somerville College and the newly founded North-End Orchestra for a special one-off performance of Händel's Baroque masterpiece (Part I + Hallelujah Chorus) on Tuesday of 7th week (22nd November). We will be rehearsing at St Barnabas Church (Jericho) from 2:30 until 5:30pm; the concert will start at 7:30pm. Please contact david.crown@some.ox.ac.uk if you want to get involved. See our poster and programme for more information.

Oxfringe Festival Concert 2011

Robin Milford (1903-1959): Mass for five voices, op. 84
Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986): Requiem, op. 9

The Choir of Somerville College, Oxford
David Crown, conductor
Soloists: George Coltart (baritone), Lizzy Deacon (mezzo-soprano), Tristan Mitchard (organ)

1st Performance:
Tuesday, 21 June 2011, 7:30pm, St Columba's Church
Tickets (£10/£5 students) are available on the door and can be booked via http://www.wegottickets.com/event/120664.

2nd Performance:
Thursday, 23 June 2011, 7:30pm, Somerville College Chapel
Tickets (£10/£5 students) available on the door

Download Programme

The new SMS committee for the coming academic year has now been elected:

Lucy Nolan (President)
Edan Tal (Vice-President and Acting Publicity Officer)
Douglas Knight (Treasurer)
Stefan Schwarz (Secretary, Webmaster and Recitals Coordinator)
Aimee Taylor (Social Secretary)

SMS will elect a new publicity officer and senior member in Michaelmas Term 2011.

The Choir and Orchestra of Somerville College present three performances of Bach's choral masterpiece:

5 March 2011, 7:30pm
Steeple Aston Parish Church, Oxfordshire
Tickets cost £10 (students and children £5) and are available from Heather Cleobury (01869 340473 or HeatherCleobury@btinternet.com), from the Village Shop or on the door.

9 March 2011, 7:30pm
Somerville College Chapel, Oxford
Tickets are available on the door. Suggested donation towards the choir's CD production costs: adults £10/students £5.

11 March 2011, 7:30pm
St Michael at the North Gate, Oxford
Tickets: £10/£5 (students)
Tickets are available on the door and can be booked in advance by emailing david.crown@some.ox.ac.uk.

The Choir and Orchestra of Somerville College, Oxford
David Crown, conductor

Soloists:
Paul Smy, tenor (Evangelist); Alistair Ollerenshaw, baritone; Benjamin Thompson, baritone (Jesus)

Download Programme

On Wednesday of 8th week the Choir of Somerville College, Oxford, will present a one-hour concert of Christmas music through the ages. The programme includes works by Bach, Bruckner, Tavener and Rachmaninov.

St Michael at the North Gate, Cornmarket Street
1 December 2010, 7:45pm
Tickets: £5
Download programme

The Choir of Somerville College, Oxford
David Crown, conductor
Douglas Knight, organ
Tristan Mitchard, organ

Tuesday of 4th week, 6pm
Somerville Chapel

In a change to the time announced on the term card, the freshers' concert will begin at 6pm.

SMS is looking for freshers' to come along and play music of any style - we want to check out the talent in your year.

Also - if any freshers would like to help organise the event - scout out acts, raise publicity for the concert - then get in touch.

If you want to play/organise, please contact: katherine.travers@some.ox.ac.uk.

In 6th week Somerville Music Society presents the chapel choir's tour fundraising concert:

Somerville Chapel Choir in Concert
David Crown, conductor
Tristan Mitchard, organ

5 June 2010, 7:30pm
St. Michael at the North Gate (Cornmarket Street, Oxford)

Tickets (£8/£4 students) are available on the door and can be booked by emailing david.crown@some.ox.ac.uk.

The Choir of Somerville College will sing a selection of English and American anthems. The programme includes works by Wood, Elgar, Tavener, Mathias, Lauridsen and many others.

In 8th week Somerville Music Society will present a semi-staged production of Christoph Willibald Gluck's opera 'Orfeo ed Euridice' (in Italian).

1st performance: Wednesday, 10th March 2010, 7:30pm
2nd performance: Thursday, 11th March 2010, 7:30pm

Cast:
Orfeo #1 - Katherine Cooper
Orfeo #2 - Ellen Kempston
Euridice - Anna Sideris
Amor - Tal Katsir

Somerville Chapel Choir
Somerville College Orchestra
David Crown, conductor

Director: Brian McMahon

Entry is free. There will be a retiring collection in aid of Somerville Chapel Choir's summer tour to Italy. Tickets can be reserved by emailing david.crown@some.ox.ac.uk.

The SMS committee would like to invite you to a social at 7.30-9.30pm this Wednesday (17th February) in Flora Anderson Hall! Please do come for FREE wine and nibbles. There will also be juice.

We want to let you know about all the exciting musical opportunities in Somerville, and to hear what you think about our facilities and events.

Have you played an instrument earlier in your life but now regret giving it up? Perhaps you want to try something completely new? This is the perfect opportunity to meet Somervillians who want to provide instrumental lessons for others in college. Likewise, if you're looking for potential students, do come along and see who might be interested in learning from you!

John McElroy
SMS President

The SMS musicians' register is now available for download:

SMS Register
Freshers' Register

Please contact the webmaster if you wish to be added to the register.

Friday, 9th October
6-7pm, Vaughan SCR

This will be a great opportunity to learn more about what the Society is up to this term and to enjoy a nice chat with the committee as well as other members. Free drinks and snacks will be provided.

Sound clips from Somerville Chapel Choir's summer tour to Germany and the most recent SMS concerts/recitals have now been uploaded. You can find the recordings on the choir and concert pages.

Information about the new SMS committee for the coming academic year are available from the committee page.

Details of SMS events in freshers' week will be added soon. Other sections of the website will be updated in the next couple of weeks.

We have announced our termcard for Trinity term 2009. There is an excellent range of recitals and the end of year concert on Thursday in 8th week. Remember to put the dates in your diaries! Full details of the recitals can be found on our recitals page. The end of year concert is as follows:

Week 8 - Thursday 18th June, 7:45pm
Bach: Double Concerto in D minor
Duruflé: Requiem
Alex Parker (oboe), Rosie Shakespear (violin)
Katherine Cooper (mezzo-soprano), Chris Bradley (baritone)
Somerville Chapel Choir, David Crown

We hope you enjoy the events we’re putting on this term!

We have now uploaded the minutes from the SMS meeting held on 30th November 2008. You can access them from this link.

The next meeting will be Thursday of 0th week in Hilary Term (15th January). Time 6:30pm. Items for the agenda can be submitted until 8pm the day before through the ‘Contact Us’ page.

Dido & Aeneas
 
A semi-staged version of Purcell's Baroque masterpiece.
Plus rediscovered 17th century instrumental music by Christopher Simpson, newly edited by Alex Parker.

Two performances:
Wednesday 3rd December, 7.30pm
Thursday 4th December, 7.30pm Read More...

Unfortunately, there were problems with the website which has meant that there has been delays in updating the content.

Minutes from two of the SMS committee meetings are now available:
Meeting 1, 30th October 2008. Minutes here
Meeting 2, 20th November 2008. Minutes here

The next meeting will be Sunday of 8th week (30th November). Time TBA.

We have now uploaded the SMS termcard for Michaelmas Term 2008. You can access it or download it from here.

A summary of our events are as follows:

• Wednesday 2nd Week (21st October) 7:30pm, Chapel: Freshers Concert
• Thursday 5th Week (13th November) 7:30pm, Chapel: Candlelit Concert
• Thursday 7th Week (25th November) 7:30pm, Bar: SMS Open Mic Night
• Wednesday and Thursday of 8th Week (3rd and 4th December) 7:30pm, Chapel: Dido and Aeneas

More details will be posted nearer the time, but in the meantime, get those dates into the calendar!

We have now uploaded the minutes from the SMS meeting held on 12th June 2008. You can access them from this link. We’ve planned at least five events for next term and a termcard will be available to be downloaded shortly.

Music events for Arts week (3rd-9th February, 6th week) are now confirmed!

Sunday 7:30pm in Chapel: WORDS AND MUSIC An exploration of ideas about art through the mediums of speech and sound
Wednesday 7:30pm Chapel: CONCERT. VIVALDI - Gloria. MARCELLO - Oboe Concerto. Enjoy two Baroque masterpieces in the beautiful surroundings of Somerville Chapel. The week’s musical highlight!
Thursday 1pm Chapel: MUSIC SCHOLARS’ RECITAL A short recital of contributions by Somerville Music students
Friday (time TBC) in Chapel: the ALTERNATIVE RECITAL Open to anyone who wants to take the spotlight!

Every week day at Dinner there will be musical accompaniment!

For more info, check out our Facebook group.

You can access the minutes from the last SMS meeting here, held on the 29th October

Our next SMS committee meeting will now be on Monday 29th at 5pm, in Somerville Chapel. All are welcome to attend. This is so we can accommodate for the JCR budget meeting.

Following the latest SMS committee meeting, we have now set two concert dates:

- 21st November, Wednesday of 7th week - Somerville-Green Orchestra and Somerville Chapel Choir. Programme: Mozart Symphony no 40, Strauss Perpetuum Mobile and Handel's Messiah (part 1).
- 29th November, Thursday of 8th week - Candlelit Concert. If you would like to participate in this concert then please contact the organisers, Hettie Storey and Ryan Sutton.

We will be having another Somerville Music Society meeting next Friday (26th October) in Somerville Chapel at 5:30pm. Everyone is welcome to come. If you'd like something to appear on the agenda then please contact the committee through this link or by our contact page.

The minutes from this meeting are available to download or view here.

Come and speak to us at the Somerville Freshers Fair- we'll be signing players up for some of our ensembles, including the Somerville-Green Orchestra. It's also a great opportunity to ask any questions about the Freshers concert in 2nd week.