As Music at Oxford launches a festival for young musicians, NICOLA LISLE talks to one of the hosts, the renowned pianist Melvyn Tan

A whole day of classical music, with food, drink, lawn games and an art exhibition thrown in for good measure. It sounds idyllic. Add in a glorious riverside setting, with the majestic tower of Magdalen College visible through the trees, and all it needs is for the weather to oblige with some well-timed sunshine.

This is Music at Oxford's latest project, Springboard, a special one-day festival at the Jacqueline du Pré Music Building that will showcase the talents of some of this country's most promising young musicians, who will perform a series of recitals through the day before coming together for an evening concert.

Audiences can come for the whole day and evening, or just pick and choose which recitals to attend, while enjoying a selection of fringe activities.

Hosting the event will be two well-established musicians - pianist Melvyn Tan and violinist Levon Chilingirian.

"It's a stepping stone for young musicians who are on the verge of a career," said Melvyn. "The whole idea of the weekend is to give them exposure to as many people as possible who will hopefully give them work. We've told various colleagues about it, and I'm sure the players themselves have as well.

"This is what young people need - a gentle introduction to performing. You learn best by performing in public. It's always difficult playing to people, so that's when you learn what it's really all about."

The musicians have been carefully selected from the country's top conservatoires and music colleges, and include a string quartet, pianist, clarinettist, soprano and baritone.

The Vardanyan Quartet was formed by students at the Royal College of Music in 2005, and is being coached by Levon Chilingirian. Pianist Dominic John and clarinettist James Meldrum are also recent graduates of the Royal College of Music, while soprano Jane Shelton is a postgraduate student at the Royal Northern College of Music, and baritone William Berger is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music and a member of the English National Opera's Young Singers Programme.

"I think we've come up with a list of very fine young musicians," Melvyn said. "William Berger is the most experienced, but they all need a springboard to give them more exposure. So the project is very aptly named!"

So how exactly will the weekend work?

"A lot of them haven't met each other yet, so Friday will be meeting day when they can get to know each other, then we'll rehearse, and then the public can come and see the recitals and concert.

"What we'll do in the rehearsals is listen to their programmes and make a few suggestions that will help them with their performances. We're not doing masterclasses because they're all quite accomplished already, so we'll just coach them and make suggestions and hopefully it will work. It's the first time we've done this, so it is slightly experimental.

"My initial idea was that I would play with the young musicians, but then I thought that I should play less and they should play more. Each of them will do a recital during the day. Then in the evening we've put together a programme whereby we can play together as much as possible. We're doing parts of chamber works, and ending with the first movement of the Concert Décidé by Chausson, which is a very good piece but it's not done very much."

The day starts at 10am and will feature four recitals of three-quarters of an hour each, culminating in a two-hour evening concert, and features a wide range of composers, from Haydn, Mozart, Brahms and Schumann to Shostakovich, Hindemith, Berio and Bridge. There will also be a pre-concert discussion.

Throughout the day audiences can explore the grounds and enjoy a selection of food and drink. There will be an exhibition of paintings and drawings of young musicians by local artist Liz Salter, and demonstrations by piano tuner Jeffrey Shackle and Oxford Violins. Oh, and Blackwell's will also be there with a selection of musical goodies.

For Tamsyn Howell Sprent, Music at Oxford's Artistic Programme Manager, the Springboard project is very much part of an ongoing commitment to nurturing young talent.

"We were lucky enough to get some funding to get it started," she told me. "We've had lottery funding and some from Oxford City Council, because they saw that it's something that isn't currently being offered in the area.

"We want to make it really easy for audiences to come along and try it, so the ticket prices are quite low. We're trying to involve as many people as possible, and it could be quite exciting. Hopefully, we'll show that it's worth doing."

Music at Oxford's Springboard Festival is at the Jacqueline du Pré Music Building on Saturday, May 24, from 10am. Ticket prices start at £6; day passes are £20 each or £40 for four. For full details visit www.springboardoxford.com. Box office: 0870 7500659.