Global examination board ABRSM has published a new Piano syllabus for 2013 & 2014. ABRSM is the leading authority on musical assessment with more than 600,000 candidates, in over 90 countries, taking exams every year. Taking effect from 1 January 2013, the new Piano syllabus feature new repertoire for piano teachers and learners. It offers a colourful range of works […]

The Ukrainian pianist Valentina Lisitsa is perhaps the most striking example of how the Internet and, more recently, social media has created completely new opportunities for classical artists. Without initially signing to a record company or tour promoter, her unique path to success has been through independently-released material published in her YouTube channel. With more than 45 million YouTube views, […]

Piano Street‘s monthly series of hand picked piano related links. Pianist Valentina Lisitsa signs to Decca Classics Aung San Suu Kyi named ambassador for Leeds International Piano Competition Interview with pianist Richard Rodzinski How virtuosos get so good The Korean pianist HJ Lim on Beethoven’s piano sonatas Receipt signed by Chopin when he sold compositions is up for sale Concerto […]

Piano Street‘s monthly series of hand picked piano related links. “Alfred Brendel piano” sold for 80 000 Euros for the benefit of UNICEF Interview with pianist Andrew Tyson Interview with pianist Daniil Trifonov Mitsuko Uchida and the Beethoven Piano Concertos Part I Mitsuko Uchida and the Beethoven Piano Concertos Part II Marc-André Hamelin tackles the Monster Concerto Murray Perahia in […]

Hailed by critics is this new release from young Polish pianist Rafal Blechacz born in 1985. At the age of 20 he won all five sections of the Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. He so impressed the judges that they awarded no second prize. Blechacz has previously recorded three albums for Deutsche Grammophon; Chopin Preludes, Chopin Concertos and Sonatas by […]

Last month we wrote about a piano maker incorporating old visual art into new built pianos. This time the opposite applies – creating new visual art out of old pianos. Broken strings and missing keys have made an appearance on the art scene as part of the Piano As Art Exhibition. A collaboration of two talented artists, Penny Putnam and […]

Piano Street‘s monthly series of hand picked piano related links. András Schiff on Bach and Bartók Pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard on Coughs, Ringtones and Wrappers Making music together is an empathy booster Pianist and Conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy and The Diane Rehm Show Listen to a Schubert recital from Wigmore Hall with Paul Lewis Interview with pianist George Li Get a free […]

Every Wednesday, composer and pianist Bruce Adolphe joins APM:s radio program Performance Today for a classical music game called Piano Puzzler. Bruce takes a familiar tune – a popular song, a children’s tune, a Broadway hit or something from the classical repertoire – and rewrites it in the style of a classical composer, often using direct quotes from famous classical […]

If you are an art and music aficionado and money isn’t a problem, why not start your own grand piano art collection? Bösendorfer has chosen 2012 to introduce their new “Artist Series” pianos, and have dedicated it’s first edition to Gustav Klimt (1862 – 1918) in order to honor the 150th Anniversary of his birth. The grand pianos are being […]

Piano Street‘s monthly series of hand picked piano related links. Jan Lisecki talks about his DG debut Pianist Shai Wosner about the dark Schubert The Spirit of Schubert, Scrapbook Benjamin Grosvenor’s debut on Decca Improve your sight reading using the Wessar App 159 facts about Steinway Interview with pianist Jeremy Denk Menahem Pressler gets Yehudi Menuhin Prize

This model D concert grand by Steinway & Sons, developed by Emanuel Moór (1863-1931), is the only Steinway equipped with a double keyboard. It was built by Steinway for Werner von Siemens of Berlin and sold to him in 1929. The piano was purchased by the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1961 for the use of Gunnar Johansen, artist in residence […]

A previously unknown piece by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was performed for the first time on Friday, March 23. The piano piece was most likely composed in 1767 or 1768 when Mozart was just 11 years old. It was found in a 160 page handwritten notebook, thought to be written by Mozart’s father, in an attic in Tyrol, Austria. The piece […]