The New York Timesπ description of the Oxford Philomusica International Piano Festival as a medium to åturn piano lessons into performance artπ has never been truer than for the Festivalπs 10th Anniversary. From 30th July to 6th August the Festival is once again the forum in which some of the worldπs most outstanding teachers, performers and students will meet to share an exceptional programme of daily masterclasses and nightly concerts in some of Oxfordπs most famous and historic settings.

The 10th anniversary celebrations will be led by the Festivalπs President, the legendary Andr·s Schiff, in a Bach and Beethoven recital on 5th August at Christ Church Cathedral. At the following dayπs masterclass we will witness an extraordinary mind at work with exceptionally gifted young pianists.

On Thursday 31st July, John Lill, the doyen of British pianists and a frequent visitor to the Festival, takes to the Oxford Town Hall stage to present a formidable programme of Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin and Prokofiev.

In between these twin displays of mature virtuosity, the Festivalπs gifted student participants will have the chance to shine in their own recital at the Jacqueline du PrÈ Music Building on Sunday, 3rd August. The voice of the piano in chamber music will be heard in a delightful concert of Piano Trios ≠ Haydnπs åGypsy Rondoπ, Beethovenπs åGhostπ and Mendelssohnπs Op. 49. For this classic programme I will be joined by principals of the Oxford Philomusica at the Holywell Music Room on Friday, 1st August.

Piano concertos feature in two concerts in this yearπs Festival. On Saturday 2nd August at Oxford Town Hall, Vladimir Viardo joins the Oxford Philomusica in an appropriately all Russian programme featuring Rachmaninoffπs Third Piano Concerto and Tchaikovskyπs Fourth Symphony. Merton College Chapel is the intimate and beautiful setting on Monday 4th August for a characteristically intriguing programme from Joanna MacGregor in which this åmost wide-ranging and innovativeπ of musicians plays and directs concertos by Bach and James MacMillan and concertante works by Britten, P‰rt and Piazzolla.

As ever, learning, in its broadest sense, lies close to the heart of the Oxford Philomusica Piano Festival and Summer Academy. All of the featured soloists will be contributing to the intensive daily programme of masterclasses, joined by additional distinguished tutors ≠ Andrei Diev from the Moscow Conservatory, Christopher Elton from the Royal Academy of Music, Niel Immelman and Ruth Nye from the Royal College of Music, Murray McLachlan from Chethamπs School of Music, and Tessa Nicholson from the Purcell School. Finally, no Piano Festival would be complete without a thought-provoking lecture-recital from Professor Malcolm Troup, and, on Wednesday 30th July, Gateway to Freedom:Ernst Blochπs Piano Sonata 1935 is given as an anticipatory tribute to the composerπs anniversary year, 2009.

Oxford Philomusica International Piano Festival and Summer Academy is pleased to acknowledge with gratitude the renewed sponsorship of Blackwell.