US pianist Andrew von Oeyen will open this year’s edition of the Three Palaces Festival on Friday.

The philosophy of the festival is that all people should have access to heritage sites and also the right to participate in the expression of music, with the aim of building an even more inclusive and welcoming environment in which people see themselves reflected in the art.

Von Oeyen will play works by Mozart, Brahms, Liszt and Wagner.

The Three Palaces Festival is under the direction of Peter Manning.

This year’s programme also sees the participation of tenor Nico Darmanin, guitarist Sandro Zerafa, the Vienna Philharmonic 4 Cellos, the Castalian String Quartet, the Bleinheim Singers from Oxford, violinist Benjamin Baker and pianist Daniel Lebhardt and the Laefer Saxophone Quartet.

Von Oeyen will be performing at the National Museum of Archaeology in Valletta on Friday at 8pm. The Three Palaces Festival will run until November 12. For more information and tickets, log on to http://3palacesfestival.com .