The year 2025 promises to be an exciting one for the piano world, with the top three prestigious piano competitions taking center stage worldwide. With Chopin, taking place each five years, Cliburn each four and Queen Elisabeth with varying intervals of 3-5 years, this unique clash happens for the first time ever. International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition One of the […]

Can a piano develop something like a personality and retain memories of the people who have played it? This is one of the questions asked in a play by Heike Tauch and Florian Goldberg in which one of the main characters is a piano that survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Since it was restored in the early 2000s, “Akiko’s […]

The Preliminaries of the 19th International Chopin Competition are underway in the Chamber Music Hall of the Warsaw Philharmonic. From April 23 to May 4, 163 pianists from 28 countries are performing their best Chopin etudes, nocturnes, scherzos, and mazurkas. Watch all performances online and form your opinion about who is worthy of a place in the final stages of […]

The piano, a sleek monument of polished wood and ivory keys, holds a curious, often paradoxical, position in music history, especially for women. While offering a crucial outlet for female expression in societies where opportunities were often limited, it also became a stage for complex gender dynamics, sometimes subtle, sometimes stark. From drawing-room whispers in the 19th century to the […]

Piano Day is an annual worldwide event that takes place on the 88th day of the year, which in 2025 is March 29. Every year, it provokes special concerts, onstage and online, as well as radio shows, podcasts, and playlists. Established in 2015, it is now well known across the globe and this year we celebrate it’s 10th anniversary! Piano […]

In today’s crowded music competition landscape, it’s challenging for young musicians to discern which opportunities are truly worthwhile. The new 2025 edition of the Argerich-Alink Foundation’s comprehensive guide to piano competitions, provides valuable insights and inspiration for those competing or aspiring to compete, but also for anyone who just wants an updated overview of the global piano landscape. As a […]

“Practice makes perfect” is a common mantra for any pianist, but we all know it’s an oversimplification. While practice often leads to improvement, true perfection is elusive. But according to recent research, a robotic exoskeleton hand could help pianists improve their speed of performing difficult pianistic patterns, by overcoming the well-known “ceiling effect”. Both professional pianists and piano students of […]

Ruth Slenczynska, one of the most mesmerizing pianists alive today, celebrates her 100th birthday on January 15, 2025. A former child prodigy, her nine-decade career represents a living link to the Golden Age of the Piano, embodying its spirit through her artistry, her lineage, and her role as a keeper of its traditions. Born in 1925 to Polish immigrants in […]

We wish you a Happy New Year with a list of recommended reading from Piano Street. These are the most read, discussed or shared articles of 2024. /The Piano Street Team The top list is also published on our Facebook page. Feel free to share the list with your piano playing friends! (Top picks selections from previous years: 2023 2022 […]

Tradition meets modernity this year on NPR’s traditional season’s celebration ”A Jazz Piano Christmas”, recorded live at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. on December 13. The holiday theme for Jazz Piano Christmas this year was definitely for the adventurous. The three performers placed familiar holiday songs inside masterfully crafted clusters of sound and […]

A previously unknown manuscript by Frédéric Chopin has been discovered at New York’s Morgan Library and Museum. The handwritten score is titled “Valse” and consists of 24 bars of music in the key of A minor and is considered a major discovery in the world of classical piano music. A free score is now published by Piano Street. The index […]

The motivations for learning the piano are diverse, ranging from personal enjoyment to cultural appreciation and professional aspirations. While some see it as a way to connect with cultural heritage, others pursue it as a path to fame and fortune. In the movie “Piano Dreams” director Gary Lennon documents the struggles and sacrifices of three wannabe piano stars in modern […]