Daily schedule
After registration on Sunday afternoon, we invite you to a welcome meeting in the Amersi Lecture Theatre in New Quad, where you will meet your tutors. Join us in Deer Park afterwards for our opening drinks reception, followed by dinner in Brasenose’s historic dining hall (informal dress).
Seminars take place on weekday mornings. Most afternoons are free, allowing you time to explore Oxford, enjoy a variety of optional social events (see details below), or to sit back and relax in one of the college's atmospheric quads.
Your course culminates on Friday evening with a closing drinks reception and gala farewell dinner at which Certificates of Attendance are awarded. For this special occasion smart dress is encouraged (no requirement to wear dinner suits or gowns).
Social programme
We warmly invite all Inspiring Oxford students to take part in our optional social programme, with all events provided at no additional cost. Events are likely to include:
- Croquet on the quad
- Chauffeured punting from Magdalen Bridge
- Expert-led walking tours of Oxford
- Optional visit to an Oxford Library or the Ashmolean Museum
- River Thames afternoon cruise
- Quiz night in the college bar
- Scottish country dance evening (where you do the dancing!)
Seminars
Monday
Women as Creators and Innovators
We begin our week by exploring how women have shaped music as visionaries, inventors and boundary-breakers. Together, we’ll map out the many roles women have played throughout music history and build a framework for the days ahead. Through the stories of remarkable composers and trailblazers, we’ll uncover their creative impact, and the challenges they faced in making their voices heard.
Tuesday
Women as Patrons and Powerbrokers
Behind many great composers stood powerful women who made the music possible. Today we’ll step into the courts, salons and concert halls of Europe to meet queens, noblewomen and other influential patrons who financed festivals, commissions and performances. We’ll discover how their taste, influence and determination shaped the musical world of their time.
Wednesday
Women as Performers and Icons
From the 19th-century 'piano girl' to operatic divas, jazz innovators and pop idols, female performers have defined what music looks and feels like. We’ll discuss how these artists shaped public expectations, pioneered new performance styles, and became cultural icons whose influence still resonates today.
Thursday
Women as Activists and Rebels
Music has always been a space for protest, preservation and power. Today, we’ll explore how women have used music to challenge injustice, amplify social change, and protect community traditions. From protest songs to modern industry movements, we’ll look at how women continue to push the boundaries of who gets to make, and define, music.
Friday
Legacies, Narratives and New Perspectives
On our final day, we’ll bring the week’s discoveries together. How have women’s stories shaped (and been left out of) music history? What happens when we listen differently? Through reflection and discussion, we’ll reimagine the musical canon and consider how these legacies continue to inspire the sounds of the future.
