What is American Music?

An illuminating journey into the melting pot of a continent’s sonic identity.

What is the "American sound"? Is it the syncopated pulse of jazz, the wide-open spaces of classical orchestrations, the radical boundary-pushing of the avant-garde, or the deep roots of spirituals and folk traditions?

Join us at the Schwarzman Centre as celebrated music journalist, author, and broadcaster Philip Clark takes the stage to untangle the complex, vibrant DNA of music from the Americas. This thought-provoking talk provides the ultimate listening guide and intellectual backdrop to the 2026 Oxford Chamber Music Festival’s overarching theme, New Worlds.

An exploration of the Festival’s theme, New Worlds, this talk offers fresh perspectives on the music heard throughout the week. While the evening concerts feature works by Gershwin, Barber, Cage, Florence Price and others, Clark reveals the wider story behind them: how migration, politics, geography and cultural exchange transformed music in ways that continue to influence composers around the world.