About OUJO

The Oxford University Jazz Orchestra (OUJO) is a multi-award-winning jazz orchestra based in Oxford, England. Formed in 1991, the student-led group has gone from strength to strength and has spawned renowned musicians including trumpeter Mark Armstrong (now director of England's National Youth Jazz Orchestra), trombonist and arranger Callum Au, and English National Opera conductor Steve Higgins. Our members each year come from a range of academic backgrounds, but all are unified by their performance of jazz to an exceptionally high standard.

The University students that make up the Orchestra have always taken charge of its musical direction, management and general running of the band. Its members are passionate about the music they make, which encompasses a broad repertoire of Big Band and large ensemble music. We like to find rare and unusual arrangements and compositions to set ourselves apart: from Big Band classics to more modern charts including the music of Gwilym Simcock on display today.

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, and the Orchestra thrives in live performance situations, playing regularly in and around Oxford at numerous balls and social events as well as putting on our own sell-out public concerts. 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. Last year saw the band feature in a major collaboration with the Oxford University Orchestra in the iconic Sheldonian Theatre.