University's £185m arts centre due to open

The Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre includes a 500-seat concert hall

A new £185m arts and humanities centre will open in October, it has been announced.

The Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre in Oxford will provide a new site for the performing arts in the University of Oxford's Radcliffe Observatory Quarter.

It will include a 500-seat concert hall, academic faculty space, a 250-seat theatre, lecture halls, and libraries.

University chancellor William Hague said: "The benefits of bringing together outstanding students and researchers from so many disciplines in a state-of-the-art building will be felt for generations to come."

The centre will include a black box experimental performance space, dance studio and cinema, an exhibition hall, and rehearsal rooms.

It will also house the Institute for Ethics in AI, the Oxford Internet Institute, and the new Bodleian Humanities Library.

It opens on 13 October, with a programme of public events to follow, beginning in April.

The centre opens on 13 October, with the public cultural programme beginning in April

It has been funded via the largest single donation made to the university in modern times by Stephen A Schwarzman, co-founder of investment firm Blackstone.

Mr Schwarzman is one of the world's richest men and a financial backer of US President Donald Trump.

He said: "When announcing this gift in 2019, I shared my belief that the study of the Humanities and Ethics were critical to addressing some of the most fundamental questions society faced, including the impacts of AI.

"The pace of change since then has only made those questions more urgent and reinforced the importance of Oxford's global leadership in navigating today's dynamic world."

It will provide a site for the performing arts in the university's Radcliffe Observatory Quarter

Prof Irene Tracey, vice-chancellor of the university, said: "As one of the world's top universities for the Humanities, we attract the very best researchers and teachers in its subject areas.

"To support their ambition for world-leading excellence and collaboration within and across subject boundaries, with artists or scientists, we need places like the new Schwarzman Centre."

The cultural programme includes Icelandic band Sigur Rós collaborating on an immersive 360-degree spatial audio experience.

It will also feature a "creation myth for the age of AI" presented by Headlong Theatre, American street dancer Lil Buck collaborating with UK hip-hop dance company ZooNation, and BBC broadcaster Samira Ahmed chairing a series of conversations.

Lil Buck, Nitin Sawhney, Anoushka Shankar, and Edmund de Waal were among those appointed as Schwarzman Centre Cultural Fellows.

"Local collaborations in the first year include the ongoing Leys Festival, as well as dance company Body Politic, Oxford International Song Festival, and early music specialists Instrument of Time and Truth," the university said.