Dave Orwell has been crafting custom mounts for our new home! Mount making is a hidden art of museum display, every object needs a perfectly tailored support to keep it safe and show it at its best. Dave’s been carefully measuring our instruments so they’ll be beautifully and securely displayed.

We're thrilled to welcome two new members of our museum team!

Byung Kim joins as Exhibition Designer, a multidisciplinary creative with international experience. Nic Fulcher joins as Projects Manager from the Ashmolean, focusing on management & exhibition admin.

A Participatory Research Fund has been awarded to
@batecollection.bsky.social, @torchoxford.bsky.social & @modernartoxford.bsky.social Led by @emanuelavai.bsky.social & Alex Coke, this collab with artist Appau Jnr Boakye-Yiadom blends historic instruments, student performances & video art for 2026!

Save the Newark School of Musical Instrument Crafts. Sign the petition here: www.change.org/p/save-the-n...

Thank you to all who brought BACH 1725 to life @ the Sheldonian yesterday! A fantastic celebration with music from OAE (directed by John Butt), New College Choir, Daniel Reynolds, Nicholas Samuel & Judith Weir. Great to see members of the Bate Collective perform on our historic instruments!

Follow JoJo as she takes our mid-19th century guitar into an anechoic chamber! This is part of the research project 'Digital Bate'.

What an amazing concert! A huge congratulations to all the incredible musicians and performers who brought 300 years of the Concert Spiritual’s history to life. Every note was a display of baroque brilliance! And a special thank you to the fantastic director, Dr. Jonathan Williams!

Happy Lunar New Year! It's the year of the Snake! 🐍

To celebrate, we’re showcasing our Serpent—an early bass wind instrument! The serpent evolved from the cornett and is a distant ancestor of the tuba. As with many of our instruments, this historic instrument is still mostly playable today!

What a year! Thank you to everyone who visited, played, listened, sketched, and made our museum come alive.

We will be closed from the 21st December to the 1st January inclusive and will reopen the Bate Collection on Thursday 2nd January!

A huge thank you to everyone who joined the Oxford Gamelan Society for their informal evening of Javanese Gamelan and dance. A huge shoutout to the brilliant guest dancer, Andrea Rutkowski, for the captivating performance that left us all in awe! 💃✨

Our collection contains what is thought to be the oldest oboe in Britain! This instrument was made in c.1690 and is known as the 'Galpin Oboe'. The maker is unknown, but it was named after the famous collector Canon Francis W. Galpin who had it in his possession before 1910. #musichistory #oboe

This trumpet is 357 years old! Made in 1667 by Simon Beale who became the state trumpeter to Oliver Cromwell & Charles II. It is still in playing condition and formed part of the fanfare march for marking the centenary of the
@artfund.bsky.social Come to the Bate to take a closer look!

Did you know? 🤔 Many mouthpieces in the Bate Collection are displayed with instruments, but matching them to their originals is nearly impossible! Discover unique ivory, brass, and resin pieces used on serpents, bass horns, ophicleides, and more. Each creates its own sound! 🎶

We’re thrilled to have loaned out our copy of the prized Beale Trumpet for the incredible OxfordMUN 2024! Huge thanks to the amazing Zack Di Lello for delivering a stellar performance—it was music to our ears! 🎺✨ #OxfordMUN2024 #BealeTrumpet @oxmusicfaculty.bsky.social