Festival endures to celebrate English tradition
	9:57am Thu 8 May 08
	As the second English Music Festival returns to Oxfordshire, NICOLA LISLE talks to founder and organiser Em MarshallK Hundreds of artists performing at 19 events in five days at four venues sounds like an organisational nightmare. But for Em Marshall, whose dream of founding an English Music Festival came to fruition 18 months ago, the hard work is worth every moment. It allows her to put the spotlight on to English composers, whom she feels have been unjustly neglected.

Eynsham Choral Society: St Leonard's Church

2:55pm Wednesday 7th May 2008

It's been a topsy-turvy kind of a spring. Oxfordshire saw snow in April, and the BBC contributed by publishing the 2008 Proms programme a month early. So it somehow came as no surprise to find Eynsham Choral Society staging the Last Night of the Proms in spring, instead of September.

Asaf Sirkis and the Inner Noise, the Spin

2:50pm Wednesday 7th May 2008

Asaf Sirkis (pictured) is best known to many as the drummer with Gilad Atzmon's Orient Ensemble, but his more personal venture, the Inner Noise, was formed while he was still working in Israel. Bringing the musical ideas to Britain, Sirkis reformed the Inner Noise over here with Steve Lodder on church organ and Mike Outram on guitar. The resulting recordings and performances of his compositions, in which modern classical music such as Messiaen meets jazz and elements of progressive rock, has been described as "vibrant, vital, exciting and fresh".

	The Merry Widow, English National Opera, London Coliseum,
	2:41pm Wed 7 May 08
	The arrival in Paris of rich widow Hanna Glawari sets the cat among the diplomatic pigeons at the Pontevedrian embassy, as they try to prevent her - and her F20m fortune - falling into French hands. Cue shenanigans in sheds, ethnic dancing, the taking off of trousers and the losing of fans.

	Music teacher who added another string to her bow
	9:54am Thu 1 May 08
	As the East Oxford Community Choir prepares for a joint concert with a choir from Grenoble, NICOLA LISLE talks to the choir's founder, Mel Houldershaw The phrase "glutton for punishment" springs to mind. Not content with teaching music to children and forming a children's choir that developed into an adult choir, Mel Houldershaw has, since 2001, been involved in putting on bi-annual concerts with vocal ensemble Interlude, from Grenoble, France. Chatting to her over a cup of coffee, it's clear she positively revels in all this activity.

Karine Polwart, the Carling Academy

5:20pm Wednesday 30th April 2008

It is three years since the Scottish folk singer Karine Polwart burst on to the scene as a songwriter after spells with Malinky and the Battlefield Band.

	The Smith Quarter, Jacqueline du Pre Music Muilding
	5:14pm Wed 30 Apr 08
	This was the second in a two-part event entitled Circuits organised by Oxford Contemporary Music highlighting new music from Portugal. The first evening involved performances, by the Miso Ensemble, of text, music and live electronics that intriguingly altered the boundaries between poetry, sound and opera. The second was a recital by the Smith Quartet in which the first half of the programme was devoted to contemporary music from Portuguese composers, including Miguel Azguime of the Miso Ensemble. The quartet played in co-operation with Miguel and Paula Azguime, who together controlled the electronics and sound projection of the performances, an aspect of new music in which the Smith Quartet now have considerable experience.

Orchestra Europa, Sheldonian Theatre

5:13pm Wednesday 30th April 2008

Orchestra Europa's concert last weekend was the second of its pre-launch concerts in Oxford, before it embarks on what promises to be an exciting journey that stretches well into 2009 and includes appearances at some of the country's most prestigious venues. Formed last year to showcase some of Europe's most promising young talent, and to bridge the gap between conservatoire and professional career, Orchestra Europa provides the perfect blueprint for post-graduate orchestral training.

	English Sinfonia, North Wall, Oxford
	5:11pm Wed 30 Apr 08
	This year marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Ralph Vaughan Williams. English Sinfonia paid tribute to him last week by placing his most popular work, The Lark Ascending, at the centre of their programme. The composer began work on this piece before the outbreak of the First World War but only completed it in 1919. Janice Graham, leader of the English Sinfonia, played the solo violin part. She captured beautifully the pathos in the music, bringing to it a sense of nostalgia for a lost world, the soaring song of the lark both representing and recalling an unattainable past.

	Belcea Quartet, Jacqueline du Pré Music Building
	5:05pm Wed 30 Apr 08
	Power, passion and panache are the dominant qualities of the Belcea Quartet, as the players so artfully displayed at the Jacqueline de Pré Music Building last week. Founder and leader Corina Belcea-Fisher is mesmerising to watch and listen to; her whole body seems immersed in the music as she teases out sounds of immense quality, and her strong leadership skills inspire rather than overshadow the other players, who more than hold their own in this well-established ensemble.

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