Attend live Music in one of Oxford’s glorious venues - If you are in Oxford in one of the 24 weeks of the year which are term time you may be in luck…

Music is a fundamental part of Oxford University’s traditions.

During term time it is possible to visit a choir of exceptional quality everyday somewhere in an Oxford College or University building.

Generally admission is free, while donations are much appreciated. Where there is an admission charge it is modest and advertised in advance.

The college’s mentioned below have a particularly strong choral tradition and are regarded as some of best choral ensembles in the world.

New College, Magdalen College and Christ Church Cathedral have schools founded along side them and their choirs include the children’s voices. They also include undergraduates and other adult singers. I’ve been told that sweet voiced porters doubles up as a singers and switch their outfits at the end of the day, great a pew and join the choir.

Queen's College and Merton College choirs do not have schools associated them but also have a world class reputation. The choirs predominantly consist of undergraduate and graduate students.

What if it isn’t term time?

Outside of term there are still services taking place in Christ Church Cathedral every evening at 6.05pm.

You may check whether the service is being sung by the cathedral choir (paid professional choir with choristers) or by the (voluntary) cathedral singers but if you have only one day in Oxford the cathedral is a wonderful experience in its own right.

It's also worth checking whether the service will be a service of Evensong or if it will be a Eucharist/Mass; the former tends to be a lot more musical in nature, whereas the latter tends to be more 'musically sparse'
Evensong generally lasts between 40 to 50 minutes, depending on the music that's being sung. Most chapels ask that you sit in the antechapel if you might need to leave early as this minimises disturbances.
All the details you might need are available on the college websites, which will normally have a 'Chapel and Choir' section. It's best to check this as close to the day as possible in case of time changes.
If you're bringing a larger group of 4 or more people, email the chapel administrator at any of these places as early as you can so they can make sure there's space available for you and your group.
It would be great if you and/or your guests could make a small donation (a few pounds or so would be perfect) at the end of the service; these things aren't cheap to maintain!

It's also worth checking out the other compline services that take place in the city - Keble run a service every Thursday at 9pm during term and Magdalen run one on occasion, which is worth going to. The chapel webpages will give you the necessary details if need them.

Queen’s College, was founded in 1341 in the reign of Edward III

It’s founder, a humble chaplain, wanted to provide an education to poor scholars of Cumberland.

It is considered Oxford’s finest ensemble of Neo-Classical architecture believed to have been inspired by lost drawings by Nicolas Hawksmoor with contributions from Christopher Wren. .

It’s chapel is a jewel of this sumptuous crown with an exquisitely carved screen and stucco ceiling.

During term time Queen’s invites the public to attend and enjoy Choral Evensong which takes place during term time three times per week. There is also a weekly organ recital open to the public on Wednesday lunchtimes in term. Details: https://www.queens.ox.ac.uk/chapel-and-choir/.

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