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The Exuberant Trust is a local charity which supports young people in Oxfordshire who are developing their interest in the arts: music, drama, dance, art & crafts, multi-media, etc. and who are in need of a small one-off grant (maximum £500) for a specific project or activity.


The Exuberant Trust raises funds by organising concerts throughout the year and from donations received from its supporters. Successful applicants are encouraged to take part in concerts and other activities in support of the Trust.



Spring flowers

21 years

Celebrating 21 years of supporting young people in Oxfordshire

with their development in the creative arts since 2023.




Next Concert:





7pm, Sunday 15th September


'Sound Walks'

Josephine Illingworth



'Sound Walks' Josephine Illingworth



Exuberant award-winner Josephine Illingworth is a singer, guitarist, artist and long-distance hiker. Her recent works use soundscape and the folk tradition to explore specific settings and landscapes - painting pictures with sound.



These recent works, ranging from simple folk songs to more ambient sound works, aim to use music as a transportative force. Josephine constructs her sonic works as journeys, weaving stark poetry, folklore, glimmering guitar and field recordings into a soundscape that feels almost tactile.



Concert Flyer


The Pavilion at The Limes

87 High Street, Standlake OX29 7RH

(next to the Black Horse Pub)



Directions/Parking



Entrance is free and the performance will last one hour.



Donations to the Exuberant Trust are gratefully accepted,
or you can donate securely online here.




Josephine is a singer and multi-instrumentalist, and a long-distance hiker. Trained as a choral scholar at Oxford, she has spent her post-university years re-imagining how sound should be heard and used. She uses field recordings and her own voice to take the listener through a sonic exploration of place. We’ll hear her explorations into how sound can conjure a specific setting or landscape, from the mountain huts of the Dolomites and Italian cathedrals to the woodlands of south-east England.

'Sound Walks' Josephine Illingworth

Fascinated by nature and religion, her songwriting is built of her own personal mythology; memories of her suburban childhood and stories from the places she wandered to once she grew up, twisted through the lens of her own lyricism.


She also uses photography, and film, and takes an ethnographic approach, investigating places where human and non-human aspects are entwined.

Josephine Illingworth’s work has been exhibited in the Royal Albert Hall, at Fabrica Research Centre, on BBC Radio, and has featured in the soundtracks of several cinematic works. She has worked with Juice Vocal Quartet, the BBC Concert Orchestra, and has attended workshops with sound art heavyweights like Chris Watson, Jana Winderin and Philip Jeck. She has sung in Notre Dame, Chartres Cathedral, and St Pauls, and has been tipped as ‘an artist to watch’ by the BBC. She received a UK Young Artists Award from Mall Galleries, a Roger Short Journal Prize for ‘Istanbul’, and the Oxford University Kendrew Prize for ‘Sunsleeper’.




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21 years

Celebrating 21 years of supporting young people in Oxfordshire

with their development in the creative arts since 2023.




2024 marks the Exuberant Trust's 21st year of supporting

young people in Oxfordshire with funding towards their development in the creative arts. Over that time, the Exuberant Trust has awarded a

total of £75,000 in the form of 170 individual grants.


Grants have been given for a wide range of items and purposes: from the purchase of musical instruments, art materials & singing lessons to

exhibition fees, travel costs & dance classes!


This achievement has only been made possible by the kind

generosityof our many supporters who have donated to our grant fund

or performed at our fundraising concerts over the years ... Read more here.


We hope that the Exuberant Trust will continue to support young people

with their creative development for many more years to come,

especially due to the difficulties faced by many as a result of the Covid Pandemic and the current economic climate.



The Exuberant Trust supports creative young people in Oxfordshire.
Our small grants are awarded for individual projects in any of the arts.  Applications from people under 30 years of age are always welcome.



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Upcoming Concerts


The Pavilion at The Limes

Standlake OX29



Sunday 3rd November


Sarah Verney & Eric Clarke

Mozart, Bach and R Clarke Sonatas for violin/viola & piano


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Sunday 24th November


Brookes A Capella group

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Further details to follow.


Spring flowers






Victoria De Melo Victoria De Melo

Victoria de Melo

Music at the Limes


Past Concerts


3pm, Sunday 7th July

Piano recital by Victoria de Melo. Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor Op. 31 No. 2, Chopin Ballade No. 3, Schumann and Liszt.


Now 15 years old, Victoria gained her Licentiate of Royal School of Music in 2021, having studied in the Junior Departments of both Guildhall and Royal College of Music. This year she has already played in the Sheldonian Theatre and in the Holywell Music Room. Victoria has been to masterclasses with Dmitri Alexeev in Austria and Stephen Kovacevich in Cambridge and she is currently studying under Jianing Kong.

Piano à Deux

Showcase 2024

 2-4pm, Saturday 15th June

The Exuberant Trust celebrated 21 years of supporting young creative artists in Oxfordshire, with some of our past award winners giving some amazing and varied performances to Showcase their talents. The Showcase was held in the beautiful setting of the Turrill Scultpture Garden, Summertown, as part of their Summer Music Festival.
Piano à Deux

Piano à Deux

2023


7.30pm, Sunday 26th November

The Oxford Horn Ensemble played a Thanksgiving cornucopia of music: from Mozart & Schubert to Scott Joplin & Glenn Miller. The performance included a history of the horn as an instrument over the ages, with some interesting facts, stories and real-life examples!

Piano à Deux

Piano à Deux
5pm, Sunday 29th October

Vivacious duo Piano à Deux (Robert and Linda Stoodley) continue our season at The Limes, with their concert programme From Mistresses to Manhattan, featuring piano duets by Fauré, Liszt and Gershwin.

The Dance of Four Hands

The Dance of Four Hands
5pm, Sunday 24th September

Diana Hinds and Emma Lowe will play duets on our 1910 Bechstein piano, with music by Debussy, Warlock, Poulenc and Rachmaninov. This concert returns to the Pavilion at The Limes, Standlake.

Safari Boots

Safari Boots


 4pm, Sunday 30th July

Safari Boots are back! Our favourite street band are back to play at this extra special garden party fundraiser in Standlake, with a sunshine packed and family-friendly SAFARI BOOTS gig. There will be tea, soft drinks, wine and beer.





The Exuberant Trust - Registered Charity No. 1095911

2003 - 2024