OXFORD.- The Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre, a new world class centre for the Arts and Humanities, will open to the academic community on 13 October 2025 and the public cultural programme will begin in April 2026.
The Schwarzman Centre, designed by leading British architects, Hopkins Architects, is a major new cultural campus in the heart of Oxford’s Radcliffe Observatory Quarter. The centre has been developed by the University of Oxford with the support of the largest single gift in modern times made to the University from philanthropist and businessman Stephen A. Schwarzman. Thanks to additional gifts, his total support towards the project now stands at £185 million.
The state-of-the-art spaces will co-locate Oxford University’s internationally recognised Humanities faculties for the first time: Music, English Language and Literature, History, Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics, Medieval and Modern Languages, Philosophy, and Theology and Religion. The Centre will also house the Institute for Ethics in AI, created in 2019 as part of the announcement of the Centre, the Oxford Internet Institute and the new Bodleian Humanities Library.
The public performance spaces include the 500-seat Sohmen Concert Hall, a 250-seat theatre, a black box immersive performance space, dance studio and cinema, an exhibition space, a museum for the display of the renowned Bate Collection of historic musical instruments, café and bar, all set in extensive gardens.
The Centre will provide a unique mix of academic teaching facilities for Oxford students and staff with world class research and performance spaces, bringing leading figures from different disciplines together to demonstrate the power of the humanities to tackle the major challenges facing society today.
Lord Hague, Chancellor, University of Oxford, said: “This extraordinary investment by Stephen A. Schwarzman represents an enormous vote of confidence in the humanities. The launch of the Schwarzman Centre comes at a time when the perspectives of humanities experts have never been more important in confronting the big challenges facing the world, including AI, human rights and the environment. 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.”
Stephen A. Schwarzman, Patron, The Schwarzman Centre; Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder, Blackstone, said: “I’m deeply proud to see students and faculty from across disciplines bring this incredible Centre to life. Its impact will further grow with the launch of the cultural programme next year, creating more opportunities for the public to engage with Oxford. 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.”
Professor Irene Tracey CBE FRS FMedSci, Vice-Chancellor, University of Oxford, 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. Its state-of-the-art facilities, reaching out deep into the international cultural community, enables us all to come together in a new dialogue in one extraordinary building befitting of this great and historic University and City.”
Cultural Programme
Led by the appointment of Schwarzman Centre Cultural Fellows, the public cultural programme will bring outstanding artists, performers, writers and thinkers from around the world together with Oxford’s communities, including leading academics. With experimentation and co-creation at its heart, the cultural programme will present a fresh new experience for audiences.
Among the collaborations announced today are: a major project with designer and artist Es Devlin, working with composer Nico Muhly and Dr Caroline Green, Director of Research at the University’s Institute for Ethics in AI; and a day-long multi-artform, multi-faith exploration of the psalms curated by artist and writer, Edmund de Waal, in collaboration with Oxford scholars, the Aurora Orchestra, the BBC Singers and Nicholas Collon.
The Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós will collaborate with leading spatial sound specialists Loss>
The public cultural programme will open with a free celebratory weekend (April 25 and 26, 2026) with activities throughout the building for all ages including performances by ZooNation, Scottish Ensemble and Justice in Motion.
Two major focus themes will frame special programmes in 2026: Unfinished Revolutions, exploring the legacy of the 1776 US Declaration of Independence and Utopia Now!, an invitation to be inspired by Utopian thinking and imagine bold futures.
Theatre and dance performances in 2026 will include Robota, a new staging of Karel Capek’s legendary play R.U.R., a creation myth for the age of AI, presented by Headlong Theatre; American street dance superstar Lil Buck will make his British debut in a collaboration with the UK’s hip-hop dance company ZooNation on a new work.
Oxford alumna Samira Ahmed, journalist and broadcaster, will chair a series of conversations exploring topics including AI and creativity, music, democracy and representation on stage and screen with leading figures such as AI artist Refik Anadol, Globe Artistic Director Michelle Terry, Professor Christine Gerrard, Professor Peter Boxall, Professor Emma Smith, Professor Laura Tunbridge and Professor Nomi Dave.
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 Instruments of Time and Truth.
