News Flash

2025-11-17

The French Piano Clash

Critics likened Marguerite Long’s refined playing to a sunlit silver thread, while across the Conservatoire Alfred Cortot unleashed volcanic Liszt. Their contrasting approaches symbolized not merely stylistic, clash as Germanic traditions dominated nineteenth-century musical expression.
Read more at interlude.hk

2025-11-16

Holst's Piano Up for Adoption

Holst’s museum in Cheltenham has launched an “adopt an object” initiative, offering supporters the chance to sponsor his piano—used to compose The Planets—alongside items like the family gramophone and manuscripts, aiming to raise £25,000 for preservation.
Read more at bbc.com

2025-11-15

Hamelin's Discoveries

Hamelin’s new album, Found Objects / Sound Objects, unites composers from Zappa to Cage, Martirano, Wolpe, Oswald, Wyner, and himself. Though he calls it simply a group of pieces he wished to record, his notes reveal deeper personal ties.
Read more at gramophone.co.uk

2025-11-14

Fanny's Three Piano Sonatas

Fanny grew up in a cultured but constrained milieu, receiving rigorous musical training alongside Felix. Born to a Jewish family converted to Lutheranism, she mastered Bach’s preludes by thirteen and composed Songs without Words too.
Read more at interlude.hk

2025-11-13

Four Hands Schubert

Pianists Leif Ove Andsnes and Bertrand Chamayou reunite to capture Schubert’s radiant Fantasia in F minor, creating a milestone four-hands album released forty years after Lupu–Perahia’s iconic recording and sixty after Britten–Richter’s landmark performance there.
Read more at theguardian.com

2025-11-12

Pianist Rana in Philadelphia

At 32, Rana has earned strong goodwill through prior Philadelphia Orchestra appearances, yet it was striking how fully the Perelman Theater audience, hearing her PCMS debut, remained captivated as Debussy’s already-peculiar études became increasingly uncanny.
Read more at inquirer.com

2025-11-11

Collaborative Pianist Perron

Francis Perron began accompanying singers as a teenager and instantly knew, “This is what I want to do—make music with singers.” Drawn to blending poetry and sound, he credits teacher Gilles Manny for instilling discipline, detail, and love for craft.
Read more at myscena.org

2025-11-10

From Juilliard to J. P. Morgan

A Juilliard-trained pianist, Matthew Maimone dreamed beyond music — earning a scholarship to Columbia Business School and now thriving as a private banker at J.P. Morgan, where he’s already won a community engagement award.
Read more at poetsandquants.com

2025-11-09

Irresistible Simplicity

Debussy called Satie “a gentle medieval musician lost in this century.” A paradoxical bohemian, his whimsical minimalism defied convention, shaping the twentieth century’s avant-garde. A century after his death, we honor his quiet rebellion and radical simplicity.
Read more at interlude.hk

2025-11-08

Creative Sorrow

Pianist Adam Tendler said "Inheritances" helped transform his complicated feelings toward his “semi-estranged” father, turning them into “a companion in a good way,” allowing him to reconnect and accept: “I am my father’s son. We are family.”
Read more at vtdigger.org

2025-11-07

Sumino’s Multi-Piano

At Stanford’s Bing Concert Hall, Hayato Sumino performed amid two Steinways, a Prophet synth, and a toy piano. His eclectic, multi-piano program captivated a sold-out audience, earning multiple standing ovations during his second U.S. concert this year.
Read more at sfcv.org

2025-11-06

Paderewski - The Statesman

When Paderewski returned to Poland in December 1918, he was more than a famed pianist - he was a national symbol. His arrival in Poznań ignited patriotic fervor, sparking the Greater Poland Uprising the very next day.
Read more at warsawinstitute.org

2025-11-05

Sir Hough and Lee in Conversation

Composer and pianist Sir Stephen Hough views all his artistic pursuits - piano, composition, and writing - as stemming from the same poetic impulse. “Poetry takes everyday words and makes them mean something more,” he explains. For him, music and creativity transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.
Read more at bakchormeeboy.com

2025-11-04

Maria-Joao Pires Retires

Maria Joao Pires has formally announced that she has ended her career as a performer, at the age of 81. The Portuguese pianist made her announcement during the acceptance ceremony for the Helena Vaz da Silva European Award in Lisbon.
Read more at theviolinchannel.com

2025-11-02

All 32 at 44

Three years ago, pianist Gilles Vonsattel called a family meeting. Faced with a thrilling career challenge, he asked his wife and children if they could embrace him spending long hours at the piano, learning all 32 Beethoven sonatas.
Read more at sfcv.org

2025-11-01

The Haydn Brothers

Beyond his roles as concertmaster and composer, Michael Haydn was also a dedicated teacher. His students included Anton Diabelli, a pivotal music publisher, and Carl Maria von Weber.
Read more at interlude.hk

2025-10-31

The Liszt Effect?

In 1844, Berlin experienced “Lisztomania,” a term coined by poet Heinrich Heine after witnessing Franz Liszt’s wildly enthusiastic audiences. Drawings from the era show women swooning, fainting, or tossing flowers, while men also appear mesmerized.
Read more at theconversation.com

2025-10-30

Sham's New Release

Aristo Sham, winner of the 2025 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, will release his new album "Timeline" worldwide on Nov. 7. Following his recent signing with Universal Music Hong Kong, Sham’s international tour included sold-out performances in Hong Kong, China, and critically acclaimed concerts across Europe and the United States.
Read more at chinadaily.com.cn

2025-10-29

Canadian Win in Honens

Canadian pianist Élisabeth Pion, 29, has won the 2025 Honens International Piano Competition in Calgary. From Saint-Hyacinthe and now based in London, she impressed with Franck’s Piano Quintet and Prokofiev’s Third Concerto, earning jury and audience acclaim.
Read more at /theviolinchannel.com

2025-10-28

Very Black and White Steinways

Steinway & Sons introduces Ultra Black and Ultra White Limited Editions: modern grand pianos with pure monochrome design. Crafted in Hamburg, only 52 exist—26 each, spanning 18 Model B and 8 Model D concert grands.
Read more at designboom.com

2025-10-27

Sham Signs with Universal

Universal Music Hong Kong has signed pianist Aristo Sham, winner of the 2025 Van Cliburn Competition. His debut album Timeline arrives 7 November, with Bach’s Toccata in C minor already streaming globally from his tour program.
Read more at gramophone.co.uk/

2025-10-26

Thoughts on Piano Competitions

Pre-selection juries sped through dozens of audition tapes until fatigue blurred judgment. Long competitions, especially Chopin, overwhelm jurors and audiences with repeated repertoire, dulling ears despite earnest young performers there.
Read more at spectator.co.uk

2025-10-25

Lang Lang's Biopic

Lang Lang’s life has inspired two major biopics: the Chinese film You Are the Best, based on his autobiography, and a forthcoming Hollywood movie directed by Ron Howard, continuing global fascination with the superstar pianist.
Read more at hollywoodreporter.com