Gift will establish world-class auditorium at Oxford

Cultural performances and musical engagement for Oxford students have received a major boost from a significant gift to the University’s Humanities Division. The donation from the Sohmen family will enrich the experience of Oxford graduate and undergraduate students from all disciplines and help the University to reach audiences across the world.

A signing ceremony to establish the gift took place today in Oxford University’s Radcliffe Humanities building with a representative of the Sohmen family and the University’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Irene Tracey.

As part of the gift, a new 500-seat auditorium will be named the Sohmen Concert Hall. The concert hall is purpose built to host the highest quality international performers across a diverse range of musical traditions, and will become an internationally recognised artistic and cultural venue. It will also encourage innovative research collaborations, creative explorations and musical discoveries.

Philip Sohmen and University of Oxford's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Irene Tracey. Credit: John Cairns

High-end technical and recording facilities and live-streaming will enable the University to reach new audiences in the UK and internationally. This venue is located inside the Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, which will be open to the public.

The gift is made by members of the Sohmen family to honour their father, Dr Helmut Sohmen, and his lifelong love of classical music. Dr Sohmen's contributions over the years to promote music and the arts include serving as Chairman of Hong Kong's Academy of Performing Arts, commissioning compositions, launching international scholarships, and creating composition prizes in his native Austria and adoptive home of Hong Kong.

Professor Dan Grimley, Head of Humanities at Oxford University, said:

'We are deeply grateful to the Sohmen family for their generous and far-sighted support of students, music-making and the humanities. Their gift will enable audiences in Oxford and beyond to enjoy performances in the Sohmen Concert Hall for generations to come. Visitors to the Hall will enjoy some of the most celebrated musicians in the world in outstanding acoustics, as well as experience innovative student- and research-led performances of the highest calibre.'

The Sohmen Concert Hall will open as part of the Schwarzman Centre in autumn 2025.