Vatan Oz/Avrupa Times-Funded by the largest ever single gift in modern times to the University of Oxford and designed by leading UK architectural practice Hopkins Architects, the Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre, a new world-class centre for the Arts and Humanities in Oxford, opens its doors to the public this weekend, 25 April 2026. The new Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities includes the world’s first Passivhaus concert hall, theatre, gallery and a state-of-the art home for seven faculties of the University’s internationally recognised Humanities Division, the Institute for Ethics in AI, the Oxford Internet Institute and the new Bodleian Humanities Library.
World Premiere of Es Devlin and Nico Muhly’s choral installation 360 Vessels
New art installations by AI pioneers Refik Anadol and Anna Ridler
500-seat Sohmen Concert Hall to be inaugurated by the Scottish Ensemble
250-seat theatre opens with performance by ZooNation
2026 programme includes Cynthia Erivo, Nitin Sawhney, Lil Buck, Edmund de Waal, Sigur Rós, Aurora Orchestra, Headlong Theatre, Brian Eno & Kae Tempest
Installation View of Refik Anadol, Archive Dreaming: Large Nature Model — Oxford, Schwarzman Centre, University of Oxford.
The cultural programme, directed by John Fulljames, places experimentation and co-creation at its heart. The free, day-long Open House festival on Saturday 25 April includes the launch of the new 500-seat Sohmen Concert Hall, with performances by the Scottish Ensemble. Audiences can see the world premiere of 360 Vessels by artist Es Devlin and composer Nico Muhly with chamber choir Schola Cantorum, to be performed beneath the glass dome of the Great Hall. Artists and AI pioneers Refik Anadol and Anna Ridler each present new digital works that have been created using AI and an excerpt of The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party by ZooNation will be staged in the new 250-seat theatre.
The festival will also include pop up performances throughout the day in the Great Hall with Professor Jieun Kiaer exploring the cultural world behind the story of KPop Demon Hunters, award-winning poet Yomi Ṣode will curate a series of live spoken word performances, and Head over Wheels, Justice in Motion, Body Politic YOUTH and The Cocoa Butter Club will perform special extracts, while Richard Curtis’s bespoke sketch for the Schwarzman Centre What have the humanities ever done for us? will be performed by the actor Tim McInnerny.
The Schwarzman Centre’s inaugural programme for 2026 spans visual arts, theatre, dance, music, literature and talks, with a range of free and ticketed events. Audiences will have the opportunity to see a host of internationally renowned artists and performers including Cynthia Erivo, Nitin Sawhney, Lil Buck, Edmund de Waal, Brian Eno and Kae Tempest.
Central to the programme are the Schwarzman Centre Cultural Fellows, a group of outstanding artists from around the world who are collaborating with Oxford’s leading academics to create pioneering new work. The initial cohort of Schwarzman Centre Cultural Fellows are: Refik Anadol; Lil Buck; Anna Clyne; Bryce Dessner; Rhiannon Giddens; Sarah Jones; Taylor Mac; Sir Wayne McGregor; Suzan-Lori Parks; Anoushka Shankar; Dan Smith; Kae Tempest; Nitin Sawhney; and Bloomberg-Oxford Fellows Es Devlin, Hans Ulrich Obrist and Marshmallow Laser Feast.
The Schwarzman Centre’s 2026 programme presents two major focus themed seasons: Unfinished Revolutions (May to June) explores the legacy of the 1776 US Declaration of Independence, featuring Cécile McLorin Salvant, Taylor Mac, Anna Clyne and American street dance superstar Lil Buck. Utopia Now! (October – November) invites audiences to be inspired by Utopian thinking and imagines bold futures with highlights including a new commission by Nitin Sawhney and a History of Utopia, led by Brian Eno and Kim Stanley Robinson.
Other keynote performances throughout the year include a talk with Academy Award nominee Cynthia Erivo; an evening with Kae Tempest; ROBOTA, a new staging of Karel Capek’s R.U.R. by Headlong Theatre; a day-long exploration of the psalms curated by Edmund de Waal, in collaboration with Oxford scholars, the Aurora Orchestra and the Colin Currie Group. Sigur Rós will collaborate with spatial sound specialists Loss><Gain to create and present a new immersive 360-degree spatial audio experience. Local collaborations include the Leys Festival, as well as dance company Body Politic, Oxford International Song Festival and early music specialists Instruments of Time and Truth. Oxford alumna Samira Ahmed, journalist and broadcaster, will chair a series of conversations exploring topics including AI and creativity, music, democracy and representation on stage and screen.
Alexandra Vincent MBE, Managing Director of Schwarzman Centre, University of Oxford, said: “We are thrilled to welcome audiences into the Schwarzman Centre to experience the building alongside students and academics of the University. Our incredible performance spaces will create a stage like no other to present our rich and varied cultural programme, drawing inspiration from the work of our world-leading academics, and welcoming audiences of all ages and backgrounds to the Centre throughout the year.”
John Fulljames, Director of the Cultural Programme, Schwarzman Centre, University of Oxford, said: “I’m delighted to see audiences engaging with such a breadth of work by internationally renowned artists. At the Schwarzman Centre, we bring together researchers, artists, and public communities to spark new collaborations that open up and deepen the University’s research, and help us explore what it means to be human today.”
Lord Hague of Richmond, Chancellor, University of Oxford, said: “This extraordinary investment by Stephen A. Schwarzman represents an enormous vote of confidence in the humanities. The launch of the Schwarzman Centre comes at a time when the perspectives of humanities experts have never been more important in confronting the big challenges facing the world, including AI, human rights and the environment. The benefits of bringing together outstanding students and researchers from so many disciplines in a state-of-the-art building will be felt for generations to come.”
Stephen A. Schwarzman, Patron, The Schwarzman Centre; and Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder, Blackstone, said: “I’m deeply proud to see students and faculty from across disciplines bring this incredible Centre to life. Its impact will further grow with the launch of the cultural programme next year, creating more opportunities for the public to engage with Oxford. When announcing this gift in 2019, I shared my belief that the study of the Humanities and Ethics were critical to addressing some of the most fundamental questions society faced, including the impacts of AI. The pace of change since then has only made those questions more urgent and reinforced the importance of Oxford’s global leadership in navigating today’s dynamic world.”
The Schwarzman Centre is not only an exemplary new architectural landmark for Oxford, but also an outstanding example of the highest standards of environmental sustainability as the largest Passivhaus certified university building in Europe.
The public performance spaces include: the 500-seat Sohmen Concert Hall, the world’s first Passivhaus concert hall complete with state-of-the-art flexible acoustics; a 250-seat theatre; a black box immersive performance space and a white box exhibition gallery; a dance studio; cinema; the Great Hall, a museum for the display of the renowned Bate Collection of historic musical instruments; a café and bar, all set in landscaped gardens.
The state-of-the-art spaces co-locates seven of Oxford University’s internationally recognised Humanities faculties for the first time: Music, English Language and Literature, History, Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics, Medieval and Modern Languages, Philosophy, and Theology and Religion. The Centre will also house the Institute for Ethics in AI, created in 2019 as part of the announcement of the Centre, the Oxford Internet Institute and the new Bodleian Humanities Library.
The Schwarzman Centre’s new collaboration with Bloomberg Connects, which supports the sharing of new and historical perspectives from the cultural programme’s renowned artists, writers, and thinkers, enables visitors to access exclusive content via the Connects app to add to their experience.
www.schwarzmancentre.ox.ac.uk
LISTINGS INFORMATION: OPEN HOUSE LAUNCH
SATURDAY 25 APRIL 2026
Open House Launch: 25 April 2026
This free-entry celebration brings the Schwarzman Centre to life with pop-up performances and events, from chamber choir Schola Cantorum with Nico Muhly and Es Devlin, poetry and spoken word from Alice Oswald and Yomi Ṣode,and more, taking place across the building.
Scottish Ensemble: Rising Sound with The Choir of Keble College, Oxford
25 April 2026: 11am, 12.30pm, 2pm
Sohmen Concert Hall
Free, ticket required
The Scottish Ensemble perform music for strings from memory, including an excerpt from Tchaikovsky’s much-loved Serenade for Strings. The Choir of Keble College join Scottish Ensemble for Caroline Shaw’s And the swallow which explores antiphonal textures and imitative effects. From moments of despair to euphoria, this music embraces the full spectrum of human emotions.
ZooNation: The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party
25 April 2026: 11.30am, 1.15pm, 4pm, 5.45pm
Theatre
Free, ticket required
Step into the enchanting world of ZooNation’s The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, a high-energy, 20-minute adaptation of the acclaimed production. Highlights of its original, hip-hop inspired numbers include “Wonderland”, “M.A.D”, “Hatter’s House” and “Funk It Up”. This vibrant remix of Alice in Wonderland reimagines Lewis Carroll’s classic with the Queen of Hearts battling anger issues, Alice navigating her ever-changing size, and the Mad Hatter lost in an endless tea-time frenzy. Created by ZooNation’s Founder and Artistic Director, Kate Prince, this family-friendly showcase celebrates individuality through electrifying choreography and original music by Josh Cohen and DJ Walde.
Great Hall Stage
25 April: 12pm
Great Hall
Schwarzman Centre
Featuring pop up performances throughout the day, the Great Hall Stage is at the heart of Open House. Professor Jieun Kiaer will explore the cultural world behind the story of KPop Demon Hunters, while award-winning poet Yomi Ṣode curates a series of live spoken word performances. Throughout the day, Head over Wheels, Justice in Motion, Body Politic YOUTH and The Cocoa Butter Club will perform special extracts, marking a display of culture, creativity and shared experience.
Is there such a thing as ethical AI?
25 April 2026: 4pm
Cinema
Schwarzman Centre
The Institute for Ethics in AI brings together leading voices to explore what ethical AI mean in practice, inviting visitors to engage with one of the most pressing questions shaping technology and society. The panel includes Kenneth Cukier (Deputy Executive Editor, The Economist), Ray Eitel-Porter (Senior Research Associate for Responsible AI, Intellectual Forum, University of Cambridge), Edward Harcourt (Director (Interim), Institute for Ethics in AI, University of Oxford), Philipp Koralus (McCord Professor of Philosophy and AI, Institute for Ethics in AI, University of Oxford), Amanda Stent (Head of AI Strategy and Research, Bloomberg).
Scottish Ensemble: Impulse, Music in Motion
25 April 2026: 5pm
Sohmen Concert Hall
Free, ticket required
The Scottish Ensemble perform music for strings from memory, Tchaikovsky’s much-loved Serenade for Strings and Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony, in a unique, personal, and deeply human performance. Playing from memory, the musicians are unleashed through choreographed movements, devised in collaboration with choreographer Örjan Andersson. The emotional power of the music and the expressive gestures of the musicians will create an exhilarating experience that will make you see and hear these two iconic works afresh.
Es Devlin in Conversation
25 April 2026: 7.15pm
Sohmen Concert Hall
Free, ticket required
As part of 360 Vessels – A Choral Installation, artist Es Devlin convened a day-long studio encounter with leaders across technology, academia, media, culture and policy. In this conversation Es Devlin reflects on the ideas and provocations that emerged from working hands-on with earth and clay, exploring the ethical and creative questions of what remains uniquely human in the act of creation amidst the rise of artificial intelligence.
Es Devlin and Nico Muhly with Schola Cantorum: 360 Vessels – A Choral Installation
25 April 2026: 8.30pm
Great Hall
Free, Ticket Required
Artist Es Devlin, who is a Bloomberg-Oxford Fellow, and composer Nico Muhly join forces for 360 Vessels, a new choral installation created for the Schwarzman Centre’s launch day. Beneath the Great Hall’s glass dome, 360 hand-made clay vessels will form a circular landscape amidst the audience as Schola Cantorum, the Oxford University Chamber Choir, conducted by Stephen Grahl, perform a specially commissioned choral work by American composer Nico Muhly. The texts within Muhly’s choral work are drawn from the Dominican roots on which the study of humanities at Oxford University is founded, as well as the words of Thomas Traherne, 17th century theologian and poet who graduated from Brasenose College in April 1652. The vessels were shaped in a series of workshops developed by Es Devlin in collaboration with the Institute for Ethics in AI as part of her Bloomberg-Oxford Fellowship.
Anna Ridler: A Perfect Language of Images
25 April – 25 May 2026
Open daily
Great Hall
For nearly a decade, Anna Ridler has explored the creative and societal possibilities of artificial intelligence, building her own datasets to ask questions about how knowledge is made and shared. For her latest commission, Ridler draws on cutting-edge scientific research happening at Oxford to create a new screen-based work for the Great Hall, continuing her exploration of natural history, science, and society. An Oxford University alumna, her work has been shown at major institutions worldwide, from the V&A to the Centre Pompidou, and she has been recognised by Ars Electronica and by Artnet as one of nine “pioneering artists” exploring AI’s creative potential.
Refik Anadol: Archive Dreaming: Large Nature Model — Oxford
25 April – 6 June 2026
Open daily
White Box
Archive Dreaming: Large Nature Model — Oxford is an immersive fusion of data and machine intelligence. This installation transforms a vast digital archive into a dynamic, dream-like experience, using AI algorithms to reimagine millions of documents in real time. As viewers enter the space, they are surrounded by a flow of visuals, constantly shifting patterns, text, and images that evoke the sensation of walking through a living, thinking mind. The work uses Refik Anadol Studio’s Large Nature Model, the first generative AI model dedicated entirely to nature, and reflects on how archives are no longer static repositories, but living entities that can be explored and visualised through technology. Anadol’s use of machine learning turns raw data into a poetic experience, challenging the boundaries between human memory and artificial intelligence. Refik Anadol is a Schwarzman Centre Cultural Fellow.
Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities
University of Oxford
Radcliffe Observatory Quarter
Oxford OX2 6AH
schwarzmancentre.ox.ac.uk
