OXFORD, AL — A documentary produced entirely by Oxford High School students highlighting the city’s international piano competition is scheduled to reach a statewide television audience this fall.
“Rubato: Behind the Keys,” a 90-minute behind-the-scenes documentary about the biennial Rubato International Piano Competition in Classical and Jazz, will air on Alabama Public Television as part of the network’s September 2026 programming schedule. A specific broadcast date has not yet been announced.
The documentary was produced by students in Oxford High School’s Jacket Media program under the direction of instructors Candace Harper and Rebecca Murphy. The project, which took approximately a year to complete, was filmed during the 2025 Rubato International Piano Competition in Oxford.
The upcoming broadcast was announced during a special performance featuring the 2025 Rubato Gold Medalists at the Oxford Performing Arts Center on Thursday, Aug. 13. Audience members were also shown a preview of the documentary during the event.
Mike McKenzie, Alabama Public Television’s director of programming and public information, formally announced the documentary’s addition to the September schedule during the July meeting of the Alabama Education Television Commission.
“This is a really great student production and shows what students, with good teachers, can do,” McKenzie said. “They really did a fantastic job, and we look forward to that coming in September.”
As part of the production process, Jacket Media students received masterclasses in television production from Alabama Public Television’s Emmy Award-winning production team.
The project also marks a first for Alabama Public Television and Oxford High School. Jacket Media is the first high school program in Alabama to receive an invitation from APT to produce a program for broadcast on the statewide network.
“I hope this leads to more opportunities to showcase the talent of our high school students around the state,” APT Executive Director Wayne Reid said.
Following its initial broadcast on Alabama Public Television, “Rubato: Behind the Keys” is expected to be made available to public television stations across the country.
The Rubato International Piano Competition is held biennially in Oxford and features classical and jazz pianists competing in an international competition. The documentary provides a behind-the-scenes look at the 2025 event and the people involved in bringing the competition to the stage.
