Bate Collection of Musical Instruments

Dave Orwell has been crafting custom mounts for our new home! Mount making is a hidden art of museum display, every object needs a perfectly tailored support to keep it safe and show it at its best. Dave’s been carefully measuring our instruments so they’ll be beautifully and securely displayed.

I’m now looking forward to finalising the exhibition I am curating for @batecollection.bsky.social @oxhumanities.bsky.social, teaching, meeting my new DPhils, and finishing up some research projects... @oxhistoryfaculty.bsky.social @oxmusicfaculty.bsky.social
#EarlyModernHistory #academiclife

We're thrilled to welcome two new members of our museum team!

Byung Kim joins as Exhibition Designer, a multidisciplinary creative with international experience. Nic Fulcher joins as Projects Manager from the Ashmolean, focusing on management & exhibition admin.

During the #oxopendays on Wednesday 2 and Thursday 3 July, our @batecollection.bsky.social of Musical Instruments will be open for drop ins and instrument handling sessions. Come along to find out more!
#oxopendays2025 #oxfordmusic #oxfordopenday #batecollection @ox.ac.uk

A Participatory Research Fund has been awarded to
@batecollection.bsky.social, @torchoxford.bsky.social & @modernartoxford.bsky.social Led by @emanuelavai.bsky.social & Alex Coke, this collab with artist Appau Jnr Boakye-Yiadom blends historic instruments, student performances & video art for 2026!

[#AnOxfordDiary]
What a gorgeous night @NationalGallery for the Festa della Repubblica, promoting Italian academic research, culture art & musical instruments surrounded by Caravaggio! @batecollection.bsky.social @ashmoleanmuseum.bsky.social @oxmusicfaculty.bsky.social @oxhumanities.bsky.social

Save the Newark School of Musical Instrument Crafts. Sign the petition here: www.change.org/p/save-the-n...

Thank you to all who brought BACH 1725 to life @ the Sheldonian yesterday! A fantastic celebration with music from OAE (directed by John Butt), New College Choir, Daniel Reynolds, Nicholas Samuel & Judith Weir. Great to see members of the Bate Collective perform on our historic instruments!

On Thursday, join EMPRES & electronic music composer & visual artist LeafcutterJohn for an immersive performance. Alongside this are works composed, presented & curated by Music & @theruskin.bsky.social students, responding to @modernartoxford.bsky.social exhibition of Barbara Steveni: I Find Myself

Follow JoJo as she takes our mid-19th century guitar into an anechoic chamber! This is part of the research project 'Digital Bate'.

What an amazing concert! A huge congratulations to all the incredible musicians and performers who brought 300 years of the Concert Spiritual’s history to life. Every note was a display of baroque brilliance! And a special thank you to the fantastic director, Dr. Jonathan Williams!

Coming up on Thursday! The Bate Collective, directed by Dr Jonathan Williams, perform music by Corelli, Charpentier, Telemann, Pergolesi, Caldara, and Mouret.
Do join us at 1pm in Keble College Chapel.
@batecollection.bsky.social

Please may we be added to this list?! Thank you so much!

Happy Lunar New Year! It's the year of the Snake! 🐍

To celebrate, we’re showcasing our Serpent—an early bass wind instrument! The serpent evolved from the cornett and is a distant ancestor of the tuba. As with many of our instruments, this historic instrument is still mostly playable today!

We are! Excited to be here! 🎉

Huge congratulations to our amazing Head of the Bate Collection, @emanuelavai.bsky.social , on having her work published! What a fantastic achievement! 🎉

Castalian String Quartet

On Thursday 30 January, resident string quartet Castalian String Quartet return for a concert of Hildegard von Bingen, Haydn, Kurtág, and Beethoven.

When a student's reading list gets out of control...📚🎄

What a year! Thank you to everyone who visited, played, listened, sketched, and made our museum come alive.

We will be closed from the 21st December to the 1st January inclusive and will reopen the Bate Collection on Thursday 2nd January!

inspired by Mr Beast, we're going to run a game show of our own
it's called Visit the Museum
participation is free/pay-what-you-want
every contestant wins a museum experience

also there are no losers

We're hiring!
The University, in association with St Catherine's College, proposes to appoint an Associate Professor of Music with effect from 1 October 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter.
my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...

The Gamelan is an Indonesian orchestra of bronze metallophones. It is a percussion ensemble made up predominantly of gongs, metallophones, and chimes, all hand-forged in bronze and mounted on exquisitely carved frames and beds with snakes, tropical plants, and other decorative embellishments. Javanese and Balinese dancer, Andrew Rutkowski is dancing with the Gamelan in a semi-circle surrounding her.

A huge thank you to everyone who joined the Oxford Gamelan Society for their informal evening of Javanese Gamelan and dance. A huge shoutout to the brilliant guest dancer, Andrea Rutkowski, for the captivating performance that left us all in awe! 💃✨

Thank you for putting this together! We'd love to be added too if possible! Thank you.

Our collection contains what is thought to be the oldest oboe in Britain! This instrument was made in c.1690 and is known as the 'Galpin Oboe'. The maker is unknown, but it was named after the famous collector Canon Francis W. Galpin who had it in his possession before 1910. #musichistory #oboe

Hey! We’ve compiled a starter pack of museums, galleries, archives and libraries in the UK who are right here on Bluesky 🦋 go.bsky.app/9o1sRWp

Birmingham! 🤩

This trumpet is 357 years old! Made in 1667 by Simon Beale who became the state trumpeter to Oliver Cromwell & Charles II. It is still in playing condition and formed part of the fanfare march for marking the centenary of the
@artfund.bsky.social Come to the Bate to take a closer look!

We're delighted to announce that Professor Laura Tunbridge has been appointed to the Heather Professorship of Music, with effect from October 2025.
www.music.ox.ac.uk/article/prof...

Did you know? 🤔 Many mouthpieces in the Bate Collection are displayed with instruments, but matching them to their originals is nearly impossible! Discover unique ivory, brass, and resin pieces used on serpents, bass horns, ophicleides, and more. Each creates its own sound! 🎶

We’re thrilled to have loaned out our copy of the prized Beale Trumpet for the incredible OxfordMUN 2024! Huge thanks to the amazing Zack Di Lello for delivering a stellar performance—it was music to our ears! 🎺✨ #OxfordMUN2024 #BealeTrumpet @oxmusicfaculty.bsky.social