Gigs & Concerts

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Written by: David Rogers

Starling Sessions perform at Tap Social Movement. Photo credit: Jason Warner

A one day festival from Oxford’s global folk community orchestra, Starling Sessions, and special guests

OCM presents Tandem Takeover:  Starling Sessions at the Sheldonian

Saturday 1st November 2025, 1pm-11pm

Tickets: https://wegottickets.com/f/13961

Oxford’s global folk phenomenon, the Starling Sessions, mark their 4th birthday with a one-day festival at Oxford’s historic Sheldonian Theatre and the city’s newest venue, The Nest. Celebrating the joy of community and connection through music, the day will bring together an eclectic line-up of performers from around the world, culminating in an early evening show. The event is co-produced by Tandem Collective and Oxford Contemporary Music (OCM).

Starlings co-founder Lauren Spiceley explains, “Our members bring incredible talent and perspectives from all over the world and we’re so excited to celebrate together with so many musicians who are part of the amazing mosaic of Oxford.  Whether people are Oxford townies born and raised, moved here through free choice, through forced migration, were placed here by the Home Office, are here for study, for work, for refuge, for love, we Starlings have been proud to share and to celebrate our common humanity through the songs that have found a home here. 

Now, on the occasion of our fourth birthday, we are even prouder to have those songs take their place at the centre of one of Oxford's biggest stages - right where they belong.” 

The headline acts will be the Starling Sessions themselves and Sacred Funk 4tet.

Since the project’s founding in 2021, the 35+ members of Starlings Sessions have learned, arranged, and performed songs from  more than 50 different cultures. These range in style and tone from the wistfulness of longing for distant landscapes, to the tubthumping rowdiness of feasting and revelry, bound by the themes of universal human experience like love, loss, labour, and kinship. This band combines soft acapella, wild mesmeric percussion, orchestral instruments, and kazoos to make a sound that defies musical categorisation. Starling Sessions bring a snapshot of vitality, togetherness and real community.

Sacred Funk 4tet

Sacred Funk 4Tet is a new all-star Yoruba highlife band featuring two-time Grammy Award-winning percussionist Lekan Babalola. They perform Orisa music from West Africa. With a unique line-up of percussion, upright double bass, nylon guitar, and clarinet/bass clarinet, they play ancient hymns and folk music alongside original compositions, blending tradition with contemporary style to share Orisa with a wider audience. 

“Life affirming and full of joy.”

“Starling Sessions was an utterly joyous event and I loved it!”

“Awesome: warm-hearted, human-kind, open, inclusive, boundary-hopping and border-crossing. Unity through diversity. Please do another :)”

(audience members on the Starling Sessions)

Performances and a workshop will take place in the Sheldonian Theatre, opening this iconic Grade 1 listed University venue to the wider community. This event is supported by the Sheldonian Theatre 350th Anniversary Community Engagement scheme (STACE) which has been operating since 2019 to offer free use of the space to community groups who do not usually have access, and to bring a broader cross-section of the public into the building. 

During the afternoon, The Nest, which is just a short distance away, will also be open for free workshops, refreshments and chill-out space. Run by the well-established Young Women’s Music Project, The Nest has recently launched to provide an inclusive and safe space for music-making and live events. During the afternoon and the earlier part of the afterparty, food will be provided by Oxford Community Action Kitchen at The Nest.

The evening will finish with an afterparty at The Nest, with Natty Hi-Fi’s soundsystem, a Roots Reggae group combining DJ sets with live instruments.

The afternoon events are all free to attend, and all events are family friendly (children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult at all times), with the workshops open to all experience levels. 

This is a Safer Spaces Committed event, which means that there are policies in place to ensure everyone can feel welcome and supported. In short, the whole festival aims to break down barriers and build connections, as well as showcase some incredible local and international acts. 

FULL SCHEDULE

Daytime performances and workshops (Sheldonian Theatre & The Nest)

The following free events will take place during the day: 

At The Sheldonian:

The Takeover Begins: Starling Sessions Workshop

1.15pm - 2pm

Join Starling Sessions to open the day as one huge band and raise the roof. We’ll teach a song from our set, so you can join in with us in the evening concert too!

Nostos Greek Polyphonic Group 

2.10-2.35pm

Spirited folk songs from Greece and further afield, including Balkan and Georgian music. 

Oxford Timorese Community Band 

2.50-3.20pm

Traditional tebe music and dance from East Timor, Southeast Asia. Performed by a musical ensemble with a troupe of dancers, Tebe music connects the community with ancestors and nature. 

Tarik Beshir 

3.35-4.05pm

Fresh recreations of Egyptian Maqam music from this tremendously gifted singer and skilled oud player. 

At The Nest:

Workshop 

with Lekan Babalola and Kate Luxmoore from Sacred Funk Quartet

2.10pm - 3.10pm 

Explore the Yoruba rhythms of west Africa and traditional Orisa songs, with two-time Grammy Award-winning percussionist Lekan Babalola and acclaimed British clarinettist Kate Luxmoore. 

Starlings Nest Family Music Workshop With Natalia Karkarkina

3.25pm - 4.10pm 

Join us for Starlings Nest, a lively and fun workshop where families can come together to explore the joy of international folk music! Children and adults will learn together to play traditional folk tunes, discover the stories behind the music, and experience the rhythm and joy of making music together. 

Bal with Hinny & Joe Wass

4.20 - 5.30pm

Music from the European balfolk social dancing tradition with local folk legends Hinny and Joe Wass. Come and have a dance or simply enjoy the music. 

Afterparty (The Nest)

8:15pm-11pm

Oxford's No1 Roots Reggae Sound System brings some impeccable vibes to keep the celebration going into the evening. 

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• Website: www.ocmevents.org; www.tandemcollective.org/starling-sessions; Sacred Funk 4tet; www.facebook.com/NostosOxfordChoir/?locale=en_GB
• Dates: Saturday 1st November 2025
  
  
• Co-promoted by:  Oxford Contemporary Music and Tandem Collective, supported by the Sheldonian Theatre STACE scheme
  
  
• Socials and artist websites: OCM @ocmevents (Facebook, Instagram, X, Bluesky); Sacred Funk 4tet @sacredfunk4tet (Instagram); https://open.spotify.com/artist/5Q5dLsSKIDoL9Zek4TBQ5F (Spotify) @starlingsessions (Facebook, Instagram) @starlingsoxford (X), Nostos Oxford Choir @NostosOxfordChoir (Facebook) Natty Hi-Fi @nattyhifimusic (Instagram) @Natty.Hi.Fi (Facebook); Tarik Beshir: https://www.oxfordmaqam.com/tarik-beshir.html  
  
  
• OCM is a unique producer and charity that works to develop and present the highest quality and most innovative new music and sound-based live events, to engage diverse local and national audiences with our work, and to deepen understanding and appreciation of musical cultures from within the UK and worldwide. OCM’s raison d’être is to bring music, artists and audiences together in ways that encourage and create memorable and meaningful experiences for all. www.ocmevents.org  
  
  
• Tandem Collective Tandem Collective incubates and produces inclusive, innovative and inspiring creative collaborations which engage with environmental and social issues. Our projects find original ways to platform these issues. Tandem currently runs Starling Sessions, Oxford’s Global Folk Community Orchestra. Since launching in 2014, Tandem has launched a variety of creative projects, including Tandem Festival, Ethno England, InTandem Publications, RISE zine and Tandem Skills Camp. Tandem also co-founded the Green Arts Oxfordshire Network. https://www.tandemcollective.org/about  
  
  
• Starling Sessions  Starling Sessions is a global folk community orchestra, exploring traditional music from around the world through the people of Oxford. Each member of the 35+ strong band brings a song with them to share and together they create a musical mosaic of the city. Their music ranges from the wistful longing for distant landscapes, to the tubthumping rowdiness of feasting and revelry, bound by universal themes like love, loss, labour, and kinship. Join us for their joyful, moving and life-affirming celebration of songs that have transcended borders and found a home here.  https://www.tandemcollective.org/starling-sessions  
  
  
• The Sacred Funk 4tet  A new all-star band playing ancient music for modern times. Featuring two-time Grammy Award-winning percussionist Lekan Babalola and acclaimed British clarinettist Kate Luxmoore, the quartet blends ancient, spiritual music and Yoruba rhythms from West Africa with jazz harmonies, and improvisation. They delve into a culture and music which, during the Transatlantic slave trade, was exported from West Africa across the New World, leading to an explosion in musical creativity and acting as a foundation for some of the most enduring music genres, including samba in Brazil, and rumba in Cuba. Lekan Babalola has worked with Ernest Ranglin (Jamaican reggae guitarist), Tony Allen (one of the founders of Afrobeat), and Ali Farka Touré (pioneer of African desert blues). Global media has given him rave reviews for his percussive ‘wizardry’ and infectious grooves. Kate Luxmoore is a clarinetist whose musical journey has spanned classical to folk, afrobeat and jazz. She’s worked with artists such as Tony Allen, Lucky Ranku, and Herlin Riley. The exceptional talents of guitarist Ruebin Reynolds and double bassist Josh Vadiveloo make up the quartet. 
  
  
• Oxford Community Action Kitchen provides food redistribution to hundreds of families each week, upskilling opportunities to increase community members’ employability, community research projects for positive social change, collective initiatives to effectively reduce health inequalities, and children’s activities to tackle financial and cultural barriers  https://oxfordcommunityaction.org/kitchen/

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Written by: George Reade

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The final show of 2025 will feature John Spiers and Jackie Oates with their seasonal/Christmas show at the Thomas |Hughes Memorial Hall, Uffington described as a joyous celebration of the season in all its shades.

This annual tour at Christmas provides a beautiful and heartwarming antidote to the materiality that can be a feature of the festive season, as they perform captivating and unusual Christmas carols from around the UK and far beyond.

It is the duo's aim to inspire audiences through their shared love of Christmas time including the traditions and rituals that have for many years been an important feature of each of their family traditions.

Tickets are £18 each from This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.