The first concert of the 53rd annual Matthay Piano Festival is Wednesday

The 53rd annual Matthay Piano Festival, a national convention of pianists, begins Wednesday in the Columbus State University Schwob School of Music.

The piano festival is named in honor of Tobias Matthay (1858-1945), an influential British piano teacher. He taught at the Royal Academy of Music in London for more than 50 years.

The festival is the longest, continuously running piano festival in the world, said Steve Clark, who teaches piano in the Schwob School of Music Conservatory program. Retired CSU music professor John O'Brien has been instrumental in bringing the festival to Columbus. CSU hosted it once before, in 2003.

The first event is the Clara Wells Scholarship Competition at 2 p.m. in Legacy Hall. Wednesday ends with a concert by CSU piano instructor Tracy Xian playing works by Chopin and Schumann at 7:30 p.m. Both are in Legacy Hall.

Thursday includes lecture/demonstrations by various pianists. The evening recital features tenor Thomas Gregg and pianist George Loring, performing works by Schumann and Barber.

Friday includes more lecture/demonstrations. The evening recital features Greg Anderson playing works by Bach, Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff and Ligeti.

The Saturday events are more lecture/demonstrations. The evening recital features violinist Brenda Brenner and pianists Kenneth Huber playing works by Falla, Mozart and Franck.

To attend the four-day festival, it costs $240. A one-day fee is $75. The evening recital series is $40 for all four; $12 per recital.

The evening recitals are 7:30 p.m. in Legacy Hall, RiverCenter for the Performing Arts, 900 Broadway.

For tickets, call 706-256-3612.

This story was originally published June 8, 2010 at 5:41 PM with the headline "The first concert of the 53rd annual Matthay Piano Festival is Wednesday."