Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre For The Humanities Will Open To The Public With Major Launch Event

The Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities will open to the public with a free day of performances and events on Saturday, April 25, 2026, marking the launch of its cultural programme in Oxford. The new centre brings together performance venues, exhibition spaces, and academic facilities for the arts and humanities, alongside teaching and research departments at the University of Oxford.

The opening programme will include the inauguration of the 500-seat Sohmen Concert Hall with performances by the Scottish Ensemble. The centre will also host the world premiere of 360 Vessels, a new collaborative work by Es Devlin and Nico Muhly, performed beneath the glass dome of the Great Hall with the Oxford University chamber choir Schola Cantorum. Digital artworks created using artificial intelligence by Refik Anadol and Anna Ridler will also be unveiled as part of the launch.

Additional opening-day performances will include dance by ZooNation in the centre’s new 250-seat theatre, alongside work by integrated dance company Head over Wheels and physical theatre company Justice in Motion. The new theatre spaces include a black-box immersive performance venue, a white-box gallery, a dance studio, cinema, café, and bar, all set within landscaped gardens at the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter.

The cultural programme will be directed by John Fulljames, whose curatorial approach draws on Oxford’s research strengths and emphasizes experimentation and collaboration between artists and academics. Central to this work is the Schwarzman Centre Cultural Fellows programme, which brings together artists and thinkers collaborating with Oxford scholars. The inaugural cohort includes Refik Anadol, Lil Buck, Anna Clyne, Bryce Dessner, Rhiannon Giddens, Sarah Jones, Taylor Mac, Sir Wayne McGregor, Suzan-Lori Parks, Anoushka Shankar, Kae Tempest, Nitin Sawhney, and Bloomberg-Oxford Fellows Es Devlin, Hans Ulrich Obrist, and Marshmallow Laser Feast.

The centre will also launch a new collaboration with Bloomberg Connects, providing visitors with access to digital content connected to the programme through the Bloomberg Connects app.

The public performance facilities include the Sohmen Concert Hall, which is the world’s first Passivhaus concert hall, the Great Hall housing the Bate Collection of historic musical instruments, and multiple performance and exhibition spaces. The building co-locates seven humanities faculties for the first time, including Music, English, History, Linguistics, Modern Languages, Philosophy, and Theology and Religion. The centre will also house the Institute for Ethics in AI, the Oxford Internet Institute, and the Bodleian Humanities Library.

John Fulljames said that the opening would welcome the public into a new shared home for the humanities and offer opportunities to connect with both established and new artistic voices. Alexandra Vincent MBE, managing director of the centre, said the programme was developed in collaboration with artists and researchers and was designed to welcome audiences of all ages and backgrounds.

The Schwarzman Centre’s inaugural 2026 programme will include two themed seasons. Unfinished Revolutions, running from May through June, will explore the legacy of the 1776 U.S. Declaration of Independence and feature artists including Cecile McLorin Salvant, Taylor Mac, Anna Clyne, and Lil Buck. Utopia Now!, scheduled for October and November, will focus on utopian thinking and future-oriented ideas, with highlights including a new commission by Nitin Sawhney and a programme led by Brian Eno and Kim Stanley Robinson.