MAY will see the first Ludlow Piano Festival, four full days of piano concerts and events at three venues in Ludlow.

The event is the brainchild of Joint Artistic Director and Chair, Alistair McGowan.

“Ludlow has three perfect venues with excellent pianos all within 100 metres of each other. So, we hope that people will come from near and far to see and hear as many of our three-events-a-day for as many days as possible,” said Mr McGowan.

The Festival will take place before the Ludlow Fringe Arts Festival and will feature people from the worlds of music but also from television, comedy and politics.

Amongst those taking part will be Ed Balls, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, who took part in Strictly Come Dancing and Jo Brand, the comedienne, whose mother Joyce lived in Ludlow.

The three venues that will be used are St Laurence Church, the Ludlow Assembly Rooms and Ludlow College.

The festival will begin with a celebrity concert hosted by Robert (‘Judge’) Rinder, featuring actors, presenters and comedians each playing a solo piece, or two, on the Steinway in the cathedral-like St Laurence’s Church. It is a chance to see some well-known names as never seen before.

The festival will also feature discussions, hosted by BBC Proms presenter, Katie Derham and BBC Radio 3’s Ian Skelly and masterclasses, for invited students and for brave amateurs with professional recital pianists.

A line-up of pianists includes: Lucy Parham, Charles Owen, Anne Lovett, Viv McLean, Paul Roberts, Anthony Hewitt, Benjamin Frith, Christina McMaster, Joanna McGregor and James Lisney. They will be playing a mixture of pieces by Chopin, Gershwin, Grieg, Rachmaninov, Debussy, Mompou, Liszt, Scriabin, Satie, and Ravel, as well as original work all with an emphasis on beauty and romance.

And, comedian, musician and conductor, Rainer Hersch will be performing his hilarious and heart-warming tribute to his idol, Victor Borge.

Others taking part include Bob Barrett from Holby City, Ben Cooper of BBC Bargain Hunt, and Gary Richardson the sports presenter from the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

The festival runs from Wednesday, May 24 until Sunday, May 28.