About The Ensemble
Looking to make a difference in the way classical music is consumed, Vocatio:Responsio is a project-based ensemble working in the University of Oxford currently directed by Samuel Oliver-Sherry, a second-year undergraduate music student from Merseyside studying at St Anne's College.
The ensemble operates on intensive rehearsal weekends with musicians flexibly and specially invited by the director to suit the needs of each programme.
About Our Aims
As a performing ensemble, Vocatio:Responsio’s main emphasis is on devising unique and compelling programmes, often with a focus on narratives bringing early figures into modern life. This invites audiences to engage with wider musicological discourse within the familiar context of a performance setting, something seldom achieved by ensembles today.
With its Latin name literally translating to 'Call:Response', the aim is to break the staunch barrier between performer and audience, creating an informal space for anyone to join in with musical discussion and immerse themselves as part of the concert experience.
About Our Director
Samuel Oliver-Sherry is currently a second-year undergraduate music student at St Anne's College in Oxford, originally from Netherton, Merseyside. Beyond directing Vocatio:Responsio, he has plenty of leadership experience as concertmaster of the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (2022-23) and Oxford University Philharmonia (2024-25), as well as work with the St Anne's Camerata, of which he holds a violin scholarship with, and the Liverpool-based charity Early Music as Education, which he was a founding member of (2017-24).
His current focus as an undergraduate is on music from the eighteenth and early nineteenth-century, pre-1840, particularly on how performance practice of this time can be used as an analytical tool.
