Oxford Philomusica Piano Festival at Oxford University

Posted by Maxim Lando, on Aug 05, 2015

Masterclass with Asaf Zohar in Oxford

One of the best events of the summer (so far) was participating in the Oxford Philomusica Piano Festival! This was basically non-stop piano –piano concerts, piano masterclasses, and piano lectures with the best of the best pianists such as Alfred Brendel, Barry Douglas, Sir Andras Schiff, Ivo Pogorelich, and many more!

I performed in three masterclasses for Dr. Yoheved Kaplinsky, the legendary American pianist Byron Janis, and Asaf Zohar! I could not feel more lucky to have had masterclasses with these exceptional pianists. This week was probably one of the most inspiring learning experiences for me in my life. I also made so many new friendships with other pianists that I hope I will run into again in the future.

One of the highlights from Oxford was hearing Mr. Schiff perform on an 1820 Viennese fortepiano, where he brought out so many different colors and voices in two of Schubert’s sonatas!

Playing for Byron Janis in Oxford

In addition to the Festival Participants (there were 14 of us), the Oxford Philomusica Festival also attracted many pianists and piano teachers from all over the the world as observers for the different masterclasses and concerts. This made the entire 10 days an amazing learning experience for all. I truly had the best time, and I really hope that I will get to go back next summer! Thank you so much to Oxford Philomusica and to the Lang Lang International Music Foundation for this amazing, amazing gift!!