As the ground reawoke from its winter snooze and the buds burst open, OCM celebrated our favourite season by moving outdoors. In spring 2008 we launched ‘Born in a Barn’, a series of new music events in rural spaces, starting in North Aston where the sounds, smells and tastes of the farm mingled with the extraordinary Finnish accordion playing of Kimmo Pohjonen. In June we invited you into the woods in Nuneham Courtney for a picnic amongst the mayhem and magic of Tim Hill’s murmuring monsters and pandaemonium processions.

This season, which was kindly sponsored by Scandinavian home interior specialists Northlight Design, also saw a new selection of Futuresound events, presenting some of the freshest and most promising new bands on the UK scene with Fraud and Corey Mwamba, and from Brazil’s rising star, Cibelle. Other new sounds from round the world were from Africa with Charlie Dark and Portugal with Miso Music and the Smith Quartet. Alexander Balanescu also payed us a return visit with his own string quartet and the moving show, Second Breath. To top it all our popular Slounge events mix delicious organic food with fascinating sounds, images, words and strange happenings at the Vaults. We hope that with this season’s multi-sensory offerings, there was something to tempt you to come and join us.

Jo Ross, Director