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. ( Main image Sarah Jones and Sarah Jones)
- Free day-long Open House to feature concerts, dance performances, talks and exhibitions throughout spectacular building designed by Hopkins Architects
- 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
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.
General views of Refik Anadol’s Archive Dreaming in the White Box on display at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, Photo credit : Richard Dawson/PA Media Assignments
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.”
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.
