The 22nd edition of the popular festival will be hosted online from Monday 3 - Friday 7 August
The Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra and Artistic Director Marios Papadopoulos have announced that this year's Oxford Piano Festival will take place online in early August.
The Festival typically welcomes some of the world's most distinguished pianists and teachers for a week-long series of varied concerts and masterclasses; this year, it will offer free webinars, clinics, and archive masterclasses augmented by evening concerts from five of the Festival's young alumni, recorded especially for the Festival.
Marios Papodopoulos comments, "I am delighted to take Oxford Piano Festival online this year, giving aspiring pianists across the globe a chance to experience the unique didactic environment of our Festival. I am thrilled to welcome back some of our most talented young alumni to inspire this next generation of participants."
The evening recital series opens with Ignas Maknickas, who performs Bach's Chaconne in D minor (transcribed by Busoni) and Chopin's Ballade No. 4.
Kausikan Rajeshkumar gives the second evening recital on 4 August, performing short works from Chopin's 'Minute' Waltz to Saint-Saëns' The Swan, via Schubert, Liszt and Rachmaninov.
The midweek recital is given by Oda Voltersvik, while on 6 August, Julius Asal offers Bartók's renowned Suite, Op. 14 before concluding with Prokofiev's 'Romeo and Juliet' selections.
Closing the Festival, Nuron Mukumi offers a selection from Tchaikovsky's 18 pieces for piano, Op. 72. The five alumni recitals will be streamed at 20:00 each evening on Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra's YouTube channel.
Aspiring pianists can benefit from three masterclasses with Marios Papadopoulos and Festival alumni Martin James Bartlett, Adam Heron, and Christopher Jessup, taken from the 2017 Festival.
A special Zoom webinar edition of Rob Cowan's Record Review offers audiophiles the chance to hear a selection of some of the greatest piano recordings ever made, from the golden age of the gramophone to the advent of the compact disc.
On 6 August, Ian Jones' Piano Clinic invites pianists to have piano-related ailments diagnosed, answering questions about teaching, technique, performance and interpretation.
More information can be found here.
Main image: (clockwise from top left) Ignas Maknickas, Kausikan Rajeshkumar, Oda Voltersvik, Nuron Mukumi, Julius Asal.