Interview with Julia Meijer
Entertainment and sport
1. How did you get into singing? <br /><br />I have been singing all my life and always loved performing whenever there was a chance. But I first started to take singing lessons by the age of 13 when I started music school. <br /><br />2. Do you play any instruments?<br /><br />Yes, I play the guitar. <br /><br />3. What do you sing about? <br /><br />My lyrics are a blend of personal experiences, things that inspire me (like nature), descriptions of feelings and emotions, and poetry. <br /><br />4. What’s your most memorable Oxford gig? <br /><br />That's a tough question... Perhaps my gig at Port Mahon in March last year, I remember that there was a great vibe. <br /><br />5. What’s the Oxford music scene like? <br /><br />It depends on where you look! <br /><br /><a href="http://juliameijermusic.com/">Listen to Julia's latest single on their website.</a>
Museum of Oxford
2020
Graham West and Julia Meijer
Interview with Jo Ross, director of Oxford Contemporary Music
Entertainment and sport
1. How did you get into contemporary music?
I have always loved lots of different types of music from an early age, listening to alternative radio shows as a teenager and reading magazines like Folk Roots. I had a great music teacher at school and also college and was drawn to find out about all sorts of music from round the world. There wasn't the same access to music that there is now with the internet so I mostly relied on recommendations and radio.
2. What do you do for a living?
I work at Oxford Contemporary Music. We organise concerts, gigs and unusual outdoor events, education projects for children and young people and development support for artists. I have always loved and been passionate about bringing people together to make and experience music in places that are inspiring and memorable - outdoors, in beautiful or evocative locations, in unusual and resonant spaces and this has characterised the work that we've presented in Oxford over the past 15 years. We've done events in the streets, museums, Oxford Botanic Gardens, on farms, in churches and on nature reserves.
3. What gig to you remember most?
There are many! I have a very fond memory of a gig we did at North Aston Organic Farm, in collaboration with Finnish accordion player, Kimmo Pohjonen and the owners and farmers there. He recorded sounds of the farm which played as samples in his music and some of the farmers played equipment live in the concert. The event began with Kimmo arriving on a tractor with a torrential rain storm hammering on the metal roof the cow barn. The music was sensational and dramatic and the crowd were dancing in the barn. The farm residents offered tours of the farm and a food art installation to sample their produce in the grain barn.
4. Who are the most famous musicians you have brought to Oxford?
Sadly not many contemporary musicians get really famous but I was proud to host jazz legend Hugh Masekela in a solo gig at SJE Arts and we once hosted a concert at the Holywell Music Room for artist Tom Phillips where he'd invited Brian Eno and other fantastic contemporary composers to present new pieces based on his paintings.
5. Do you play yourself?
I play the clarinet and baritone saxophone - though just for fun with the street band, the Horns of Plenty.
Photograph taken by Ian Wallman.
Museum of Oxford
2020
Graham West and Jo Ross
Lucifer and Miss Primrose by Mandala Theatre Company and Histoires 100 Fins
Entertainment and sport
Performance in Oxford city centre on 25/04/19. More information can be found on a page about the production on the Mandala Theatre Company website, please see this link: <a href="https://www.mandalatheatre.co.uk/post/spectacular-fire-show-to-celebrate-oxford-grenoble-30-year-twinning">https://www.mandalatheatre.co.uk/post/spectacular-fire-show-to-celebrate-oxford-grenoble-30-year-twinning</a>.
Claire Frampton
Museum of Oxford
25/04/21
Mandala Theatre Company and Histoires 100 Fins. Photographs by Stu Allsopp.
Page about the production on the Mandala Theatre Company website: <a href="https://www.mandalatheatre.co.uk/post/spectacular-fire-show-to-celebrate-oxford-grenoble-30-year-twinning">https://www.mandalatheatre.co.uk/post/spectacular-fire-show-to-celebrate-oxford-grenoble-30-year-twinning</a> Oxford Mail review of the show: <a href="https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/17598320.florence-park-hosts-show-mark-link-oxford-grenoble/">https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/17598320.florence-park-hosts-show-mark-link-oxford-grenoble/</a>
‘Gravitational Waves’ dance performance
Entertainment and sport
‘Gravitational Waves’ dance performance at Oxford Castle Quarter, Compagnie Retouramont presented by Dancin' Oxford 2015<br /><br />Documentation of performance by French dance company Compagnie Retouramont in the Oxford Castle Quarter. Working with a framework attached to the heritage architecture, this work demonstrates possibilities of creativity in relationship to historical spaces.<br /><br />Image 1 - Solo inversion <br />Image 2 - Across the divide<br />Image 3 - Electric stillness<br />Image 4 - Turned outward<br />Image 5 - Flight<br />Image 6 - On the wall<br />Image 7 - My shadow<br />Image 8 - Trio in suspension<br />Image 9 - Wall on-a-wall<br />Image 10 - Play-on-projection<br />Image 11 - Connection<br />Image 12 - Hanging quartet<br />Image 13 - Inverted trio
Museum of Oxford
29 May 2015
Claire Frampton
Compagnie Retouramont presented by Dancin’ Oxford Photographs by Stu Allsopp
Review of the show on Oxford Dance Writers website <a href="https://oxforddancewriters.wordpress.com/tag/dancin-oxford-2015/">https://oxforddancewriters.wordpress.com/tag/dancin-oxford-2015/</a>. <br />Compagnie Retouramont website: <a href="https://retouramont.com/en/the-company-2/">https://retouramont.com/en/the-company-2/</a>
MUE Performance at Lamb and Flag Passage
Entertainment and sport
Documentation of improvised performance in one of Oxford’s historical passages. This is a space people normally walk through, this performance brought attention to its unique atmosphere.
Museum of Oxford
22 June 2019
Claire Frampton
Photographs by Stu Allsop. MUE members:
Macarena Ortuzar- Dancer
Bruno Guastalla- Music
Dariusz Dziala- Lighting
A page on the See Around Britain, See Around Europe webpage about Lamb and Flag Passage <a href="https://seearoundbritain.com/venues/lamb-and-flag-passage-oxford-open-at-all-times-free-admission">https://seearoundbritain.com/venues/lamb-and-flag-passage-oxford-open-at-all-times-free-admission</a>. A link to a webpage with information about the performance <a href="https://brunoguastalla.net/2019/06/10/mue-at-lamb-flag-passage-oxford/">https://brunoguastalla.net/2019/06/10/mue-at-lamb-flag-passage-oxford/</a>.
Theatre programme from February 1945
Entertainment and sport
This has been in the family for many years and was recently rediscovered. It is believed my father kept it after attending the performance. At the time he was a 17 year old at St Edwards school in Oxford.<br /><br /><p>The bottom of the page on the first image has guidance should an air raid warning sound during the performance.</p>
Museum of Oxford
February 1945
Graham Crouch