The Leicester International Music Festival was founded in 1989 by viola player, Graham Oppenheimer, who was Artistic Director of the Festival until 2002. Nicholas Daniel, the oboe virtuoso, was appointed as Artistic Director in April 2003. The Festival's distinguished Patrons are the composers James McMillan CBE and Thea Musgrave CBE, the conductor Paul McCreesh and BBC Ceramicist, Lars Tharp.

The Festival is largely a chamber music festival and is rooted in Leicester’s strong musical tradition of working with the finest musicians and composers including the Leicester Symphony Orchestra with Sir Malcolm Sargent, The Bach Choir with Kathleen Ferrier and the Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra with Sir Michael Tippett. The annual festival took place in Leicester in June for many years but moved to September in 2007. The Festival continues to attract regional, national and international recognition for the high quality of its musical performances, for the world-class artists taking part and for promoting  stimulating and sometimes challenging programming.

The Festival celebrates its 24th year in 2012.