Our annual Christmas concert in the festive holiday season atmosphere of Gartrop Castle has become a beloved tradition. In 2023, we look forward to welcoming the great Elena Bashkirova, who will put us in a musical mood for Yuletide. Born into a Russian “musician dynasty” spanning several generations, the highly gifted pianist was awarded the Ruhr Piano Festival Prize in 2018 in gratitude for her faithful friendship to this annual music event. Ever since childhood, her first and only piano teacher was her father, the legendary professor Dmitri Bashkirov. He taught her to make the piano radiate by using music to tell stories brimming with passion and intellectual depth. On the second Sunday in Advent, Elena Bashkirova will make her 27th appearance at the Ruhr Piano Festival, thus bringing Prof. Franz Xaver Ohnesorg’s many years as director to a worthy conclusion.