The JDP building is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a weekend of events, writes Nicola Lisle

‘It’s almost as if a spacecraft in the form of a beautiful concert hall landed in the middle of a college,” says Martyn Harry, the artistic director of the Jacqueline du Pré Music Building.

What’s remarkable about this particular spacecraft is that it seems to have been on this planet for much longer than a mere 20 years.

In that time it has become such an integral part of Oxford’s music scene, it is hard now to imagine life without it.

Nestling in the grounds of St Hilda’s College, the JDP was the first purpose-built concert hall since the Holywell Music Room in the 18th century, and was conceived not only as a tribute to the legendary cellist but also as a modern, high-tech music facility to serve both town and gown.

Now organizers are keen to showcase the diversity of musical activities at the JDP with a celebratory weekend, which runs from January 22-25 and kicks off a year-long progr-amme of anniversary events.

“The view of the JDP in the mid-90s was, I think, to serve the core classical needs of audiences in Oxford,” says Martyn.

“Part of the message of our weekend is to show that we’ve moved slightly on from that, because there’s actually plenty of core classical repertoire out there. So a lot of what we now do involves different niche areas, such as contemporary music.”

The weekend opens with a lunchtime recital by pianist Jonathan Powell, performing works by contemporary composers Hugues Dufourt and Morgan Hayes. Another pianist, Nick Van Bloss, makes a welcome return to the JDP on the Saturday, in a follow-up concert to his highly-acclaimed performance of Bach’s Goldberg Variations last year.

“He’s a remarkable pianist,” Martyn says. “I just won’t ever forget his Goldberg Variations — it was very, very special. Now he’s moving on to late Beethoven, so he’s doing the Diabelli Variations and the Appassionata Sonata.”

There is more classical music on the Sunday from the Belcea Quartet, a former quartet-in-residence at the JDP, in a programme of Webern, Schubert and Brahms. “They weren’t very well known when they started out here and now they’re huge,” says manager Joel Baldwin. “So it will be nice to have them back. We’re really happy they’ve agreed to do this, and that should be a fantastic concert to end with.”

Martyn and Joel are also keen to emphasise the involvement of students in the JDP, and the Sunday lunchtime concert will be given by pianist Carson Becke, a former music scholar at St Hilda’s who is now studying there for a MPhil in Music Performance. In between these recitals is a variety of unusual events, including the M@SH Marathon, which is marking the fifth anniversary of the JDP’s experimental contemporary music series; a family concert by the Millbrook Ensemble; composition workshops; and a community concert that involves local musicians, teachers and students who perform regularly at the JDP.

“All of this is just the start of the 20th anniversary events,” stresses Joel, “and these run until the same time next year, ending in February 2016 with our patron, Steven Isserlis.

“January 26 this year would have been Jacqueline du Pré’s 70th birthday, so we’re tying that in as well with events in May and June.”

Jacqueline du Pré 20th Anniversary Weekend
Jacqueline du Pré Music Building, St Hilda’s College, Oxford
January 22-25, various times
Tickets: £3-£35 from 01865 305305 or ticketsoxford.com
More info and season tickets from st-hildas.ox.ac.uk/jdp