Exploring the Boundaries of Classical Music
Intriguing and Unusual
OXUS is a string quartet with an eye for intriguing and unusual repertoire, performing music from all eras, but specialising in 20th-century and contemporary works. They have been playing together since 2006, and frequently perform with other artists and media in works such as Steve Reichʼs Different Trains with electronics, The Juliet Letters by Elvis Costello and The Brodsky Quartet, Arts Council funded collaborative projects with installation artist Pam Foley, with Moonrakers folk group, and even recording for a Japanese department store at Abbey Road Studios!
Innovative Presentation
KATE, LOUISE, HEATHER and SPIKE are all established performers individually, with musical activities ranging from orchestral leading and continuo playing to baroque and jazz performances.
TOGETHER they strive to find different ways to present a wide variety of music, stripping away some of the formality which chamber music performance is perceived to involve.
OXUS performs regularly in a variety of venues ranging from the Institute of Contemporary Art in London to the stables building of a pub in the Thame Arts and Literary Festival, SJE Arts, and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.
Other regular activities include giving workshops, working with youth and amateur orchestras, and coaching. OXUS was the resident quartet for the Wycombe Abbey School's inaugrual Chamber Music Summer School.
Forthcoming Projects and Concerts
Saturday 19th October
From the Steppes of Central Asia
An hour of string quartet music inspired by the peoples and vast landscapes of the Caucasus and beyond.
Join OXUS on a musical voyage visiting Armenia, Ukraine, Georgia, Russia and Kazakhstan, and including celebrated works by Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Prokofiev and Shostakovich.
Didcot GWP Community Centre, 1 Gentian Mews, Didcot, OX11 6GR
Performance at 4.30pm
Full price £14
Concessions (under 25 years) £4
What people say about OXUS...
"What a magical and moving concert."
"You four play superbly and your programme, as always, was excellent. I enjoyed every piece and, like the people around me, know that we can count on OXUS for new repertoire as well as super playing."
"It was fantastic - what a talented quartet and a lovely varied yet intertwined programme with just the right level of introductory info. A pleasure to see you play again."
"I wished I had brought someone with me who had never experienced a classical string quartet to show them: this is what it is all about. The setting in the chapel, the intimacy of the circle of seats around the performers' space, the dramatic way you began with physical fugal entries, and sheer musicality and sense of sharing with each other and the audience would have converted anyone to classical music."
"...sheer musicality and sense of sharing..."
OXUS Recordings
POSTCARDS FROM A STRING QUARTET was released in 2019. The inspiration for this CD came from a concert programme OXUS prepared for the Oxford Festival of the Arts in 2016, the theme of which was International Connections. The album is a collection of snapshots from Argentina, Ukraine, Austria, Africa (via Germany), Russia, England, France and Denmark. OXUS hope to travel further afield in the future… Email heather@heatherbirt.co.uk with CD purchase enquiries.
CREATIVE COLLABORATIONS have resulted in a wide variety of projects, including composition. Together with sound engineer Oli Whitworth, OXUS produced a new work entitled Routes of Sorrow to accompany an art exhibition of the same name, by Pam Foley. Recorded voice samples of the artist's daughter formed a basis for some of the work. A second phase involved reworking the score for live semi-improvised performance with dancers. These projects were funded by the Arts Council England. Listen to Routes of Sorrow.
DURING LOCKDOWN OXUS produced three recordings with Oli Whitworth of Por Una Cabeza by Carlos Gardel, a beautiful Melody by Ukranian composer, Myroslav Skoryk, and Polska from Dorotea, arranged by the Danish String Quartet.