We’re working with the Museum of Oxford and their brilliant exhibition about Oxford’s music scene, Sounds of the City, to present a unique live show bringing together the sounds of Oxford itself with the talent of its musicians and artists.
Sounds of the City: live invites Oxford’s musicians to work with a field recording of a sound from the city, and develop a piece of music or a song based on (and containing) that recording, to perform live at the museum at a showcase event on Friday 11 December.
This unique project sees artists being inspired by the soundscapes of our home city to create a set of songs that spring from the very sounds of Oxford itself – and a unique live event celebrating the sounds of Oxford as they’ve never been heard before.
Participating artists will receive £100 each for taking part, will perform their Sounds of the City compositions live at the museum, and the pieces will also be presented on the Cities and Memory sound map and across our podcast.
Apply to take part here by 29 August – the form should only take five minutes to fill in.
The project works as follows:
- Artists and musicians can apply to be part of the project by filling in this quick form – applications are open until the end of Saturday 29 August. Only artists based in Oxfordshire are eligible to take part – applications from Oxfordshire groups/bands or collaborations as well as solo artists are very welcome, and there is no limitation on genre (all styles are welcome!).
- Cities and Memory and the Museum of Oxford curatorial team will select four artists to take part in the project.
- These artists will then pick one Oxford sound recording to work with – Cities and Memory will provide an extensive collection of Oxford sounds to choose from, or artists are free to record their own. Cities and Memory’s Oxford sound database contains everything from the sounds of college choirs, May Day, sports events, natural soundscapes, political protests, street sounds and much more.
- Your composition must include the original field recording, or part of it, in some form, whether unprocessed and “as is”, or effected/manipulated.
- You will perform your composition live at the museum at a special event on Friday 11 December – we’ll play the field recording you used, you’ll be invited to say a few words about how this sound of the city inspired you, and then you’ll perform your piece.
- If it’s possible to record your submission ahead of 11 December, you will also submit your composition/song/piece of music to Cities and Memory along with a title and description of how the recording inspired you/how you used it. We will then include it on our global sound map and as an episode on our podcast across Spotify, Apple Music etc. (We recognise this may not be possible for group/band applicants)
Sounds of the City is an exhibition of objects, memorabilia, and stories celebrating Oxford’s music scene in the 90s and beyond. The exhibition highlights iconic bands, gigs, grassroots venues, festivals, and record labels that all energetically shaped Oxford’s sound.
Marking 30 years since BBC Radio 1 Sound City Oxford in 1997, the exhibition revisits pivotal moments in the city’s musical journey – from Ride’s breakout as ‘shoegaze’ progenitors, to Supergrass’ seminal album I Should Coco in 1995, and to Radiohead’s epic hometown show at South Park in July 2001.
The exhibition takes places at the Museum of Oxford from 11 July 2026 to 13 March 2027.
