Within a city full of medieval buildings and old traditions, Oxford houses one of the most modern and active artistic communities in the world. Samuel Oliver-Sherry, a “college-hold” name in the scene, took some time to talk to The Oxford Blue about what Oxford’s musical scene means to him as he enters his final year here at the University. Oliver-Sherry was Concertmaster of the Oxford University Philharmonia last academic year, while also managing the responsibilities of directing his own ensemble, Vocatio: Responsio. As he prepares for his upcoming concert with Vocatio: Responsio on Monday, October 27th, Oliver-Sherry reflects on what he finds contemporarily important and endlessly fascinating about the wide world of classical music. Most interestingly, he talks about the little-known composer rivalry between William Hayes of Oxford and Charles Avison of Newcastle, a topic his upcoming concert examines in detail.

Luke: Could you give us a brief background of how you came to do music here at Oxford?

Samuel: I’m originally from Merseyside, and so I was in the Liverpool Youth Company. I was Concertmaster there for a period… I had a teacher who had gone to Oxford and he suggested that I apply. So I thought, yeah, what’s the harm in trying? And the rest is history!

Luke: How would you describe the music community at Oxford?

Samuel: Very, very broad… if there is a will, there is a way, and if there is a want for something there is someone who will make it happen… I think it’s the most diverse and most full of opportunity music society in the country.

Luke: I always see the corkboards around the city…

Samuel: I think they are one of the best parts… you can see a piece of medieval or Renaissance music right next to this completely experimental thing, then you see a traditional orchestral concert, then you see a pop band… It really shows Oxford’s diversity.

Luke: Is there anything you think the university can do to help support musicians better?

Samuel: So while the university is very, very supportive of it, I don’t think that they can or should intervene with what we do… I think in terms of what’s so brilliant about how the university supports us is that they let us do these concerts and let us have these wild ideas and ultimately it is down to me to make it happen.

Luke: What can normal students do to best help support Oxford musicians?

Samuel: Well, the easiest thing that any student can do is go to a concert… if your mate’s putting on a gig or whatever, you know, go support them and go and do whatever you can to help them.

Luke: Favorite student music group:

Samuel: Miranda Storey’s ‘Hot Mess’ is fantastic. They champion the performers as creative minds, which I really admire.

Luke: Favorite instrument (can’t say violin):

Samuel: The bassoon, I’ve always loved it since I was a kid.

Luke: Most fun section:

Samuel: The violas. It’s always the violas.

Luke: Non-music degree with the best musicians:

Samuel: STEM’s are always quite good, physics in particular.

Luke: Let’s move to your upcoming concert. It’s based around the 2021 Euro Final. Everyone has a memory of that day. What’s your story?

Samuel: I had just come back from a music residency… the day we got home was going to be the final. We switched it on a bit late, 5 minutes in, and it’s Italy nil, England one, and it was kind of like, ‘we’re actually gonna do this!’ That didn’t last long, of course, about 70 minutes. But what a time that was for the British… It was a day where our whole nation stood still.

Luke: What prompted you to decide this as the theme for your concert?

Samuel: The idea came about from sort of reading up on this debate between William Hayes of Oxford and Charles Avison of Newcastle. And it’s this discussion on aesthetics in music… Avison generally focuses on foreign influences, mainly his teacher, Francesco Geminiani, who was a very prolific composer in Britain at the time. He brought a uniquely Italian influence. Avison models his style on him, and he wrote this essay which was about what he thought musical expression should be.
Then a year later you have this anonymous reply, from who we later find out is William Hayes, which denounces Avison as a composer. Hayes just tried to ruin Avison’s career. It was really bad, some of the things he says. This was quite a big deal, it is one of the first [public celebrity fights] of its kind. A true English on Italian battle, just like the Euros! This is some of the first pieces of British musical criticism, and the fact that it’s two very well respected figures going after each other, I guess it’s a bit like Johnny Depp and Amber Heard!

Luke: Do you think there is a correlation between the way different footballing nations have distinct styles and how nations have different musical styles?

Samuel: Composers mostly stayed in their own countries, so national styles really formed. The Italians have a lot of a flair within their music. 
You can tell when something’s Italian, like Vivaldi, Locatelli, Tartini, Geminiani. They wrote a lot of violin virtuosos, a lot of concertos. The French were generally concerned with larger, like opera things.
Lots of instruments, lots of sound effects, lots of special effects as well. In Germany, you had some of the first organ music. And then British music, particularly in this time, the time of Avison, was generally looking backwards. So they were still drawing on music that had been popular in the 17th century. Meanwhile Avison wanted to say, ‘we’re now in the 1700s, guys. Let’s move on, let’s build, you know? I think this is one of the things that really fascinated me about this. He was being pegged back by a very staunch traditionalist in William Hayes.

Luke: Is there anything else you think that is interesting as far as the theme of your concert?

Samuel: I’m going to be really annoying and say that if you want to know, you should come to the concert! I think it really examines British culture in a very different light, and examines a lot of our pessimism in particular. The idea of failure is mentioned throughout my program. We’ll be in the Hollywell Music Room, where all of these figures -including William Hayes- performed. So while we are in 2025, you can almost step back into the 1750s!