ABOUT US

“The Oxford Gargoyles—jazz a cappella about as good as it gets.” Philip Lawson, King’s Singer, Grammy-winning arranger and composer

The Oxford Gargoyles are Oxford’s foremost vocal jazz group, made up of ten to fifteen students in Oxford. With a rich twenty five-year history, and over one hundred alumni, the group welcomes new talent each year, holding auditions each autumn. The Gargoyles perform regularly in the UK, tour internationally, and put on an annual two-week show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. To learn more about the group, have a listen to some of our recordings, watch our videos, read our testimonials, or flip through our photo gallery. If you like what you hear, you may like to purchase one of our albums or book us for your next event.

If you have any inquiries, feel free to contact us. 

Current Members

After this year’s auditions, there’s a brand new crop of gargoyles.

History 

The Oxford Gargoyles, Oxford’s only jazz vocal ensemble, were founded by Divya Seshamani and Hannah Harper in early 1998, the lovechild of a passion for jazz and an excuse to cover up the potentially antisocial habit of breaking into song at the smallest encouragement! The group quickly gathered momentum: their first all-you-can-drink concerts at St John’s Auditorium were soon followed by recording dates, busking sessions, arts festival appearances and performances at college balls. It wasn't long before The Gargoyles had achieved a reputation for their exciting, innovative and, of course, black-tied performing style. Click here for a full history of the Gargoyles from their founding up to the present.

A full list of the group's alumni can be found here. 

Auditions

Every autumn at the start of Oxford's Michaelmas Term, The Oxford Gargoyles recruit new members to join the group. If you love to sing, and want to experience something unique at university, whilst making incredible friends and performing to a very high musical standard, keep an eye out for our auditions next October!

For the audition, please prepare a short solo song (ideally something jazzy). We will also lead you through a range test, before having a go at some scatting. Sight-singing will not be tested and is not a required skill to become a Garg! Later audition rounds will involve sheet music, but we will also be providing audio rehearsal tracks for those who find that a more helpful way of learning music.

If you have any questions or worries about the audition process, please contact us.

See you there!