A little
history.
In 1991, Lady Margaret Hall student Sarah Cropper formed a jazz band, which initially began as a word-of-mouth, non-auditioned group. Within a few terms, it had developed into the Oxford University Jazz Orchestra, a full big band with eighteen students drawn from across the city. Mark Armstrong, one of our most celebrated alumni, arrived the following summer and led the band to begin gigging around Oxford.
The band moved from strength to strength, entering the BBC Big Band Competition in 1999 and winning the junior section. OUJO recorded a live album in 2002, toured to New York City in 2009, and followed with a Canada tour in 2012, performing at three jazz festivals. OUJO performed at many venues throughout Oxford and beyond, including Pizza Express Dean St. A second album was recorded in 2015, followed by further tours to New York (2016), Thailand (2018), Italy (2025) and Japan (2026). OUJO recorded its most recent album, Checkmate, released in 2026.
OUJO has represented Oxford in an annual "Jazz-Off" big band battle against the Cambridge University Jazz Orchestra since 2004 and more recently has combined with Durham University Big Band and Imperial College Big Band for joint concerts in Oxford and London. Over the past few years, OUJO has collaborated with phenomenal jazz musicians such as Gwilym Simcock and Zoe Rahman.
One of OUJO's aims, aside from providing a musical forum for students from across the University, is to bring our music to as wide an audience as possible. The Orchestra thrives in live performance, playing regularly in and around Oxford at balls and social events as well as putting on its own sell-out public concerts. Next year promises to be as busy as ever, and we can't wait to show what we have in store.
St Hilda's College, Oxford OX4 1DY