We are a group of professional pianists, teachers, performers, accompanists, and opera repetiteurs, local and international.

Festival pianissimo live 2017

28th July - 4th August 2017, Torredembarra, Spain

Poster

Why the association?

To create a network for professional pianists to meet and network in a relaxed informal atmosphere and to discuss topics concerning all the obstacles involved making a career with the piano.

The life of a pianist is a solitary one. We spend many hours a day alone perfecting our technique, starting at a very early age. We need to sit together and discuss the balance between all this solitary “confinement” at such a young age and trying to grow and evolve to adulthood. Being so isolated from society already for some at the age of eight or nine can have dramatic affect on our lives as growing musicians and artists.

To provide private teachers help in search of new methods and techniques in advancing education for children and adults.

We are now living in the 21st century. Many methods for learning piano are still coming from 19th century or even 18th. We must revise and discuss all methods especially evolving from the 20th century inviting specialists in this domain. Studying the piano at a young age is quite distinct from learning at adolescence or adulthood. We know that to train to become a professional performer one must start at an extremely early age, developing muscles, etc but the joy to study must be the primary importance. How many times have we heard the story that one “gives up” the piano around the age of twelve or thirteen because of lack of discipline, teacher too severe, not understanding “how” to enjoy practise etc. These topics will be discussed in round table forums.

To provide pianists with the opportunity to perform, gaining experience on the concert platform

This is one of the most controversial topics. The student studies at a music academy until graduation, maybe receives some sort of financial aid to study in another country completing a post graduate degree, then what? Maybe they try to enter competitions to attract agents or some kind of management to enhance their performing career.
We all know that an extremely small percentage of pianists “make it” into a true complete concert schedule and survive financially from it. What do the rest have as a possibility?
They start teaching. Many are not interested or qualified to do this but how to survive financially and what are the alternatives?
How does the pianist reach a public less and less prone to attending concerts and why are there so few possibilities for the pianist to perform.
We know that the only way to prepare and practise is experience on the concert platform. Touring and performing on different pianos in different acoustics are part of the learning process. Trying out new repertoire on stage is a totally distinct experience from playing behind closed doors at home or in a studio.

To help pianists financially after terminating postgraduate studies to prepare for extra study and concert preparation

Many young performers start teaching immediately after graduation. Many have to spend all their time away from practise to be able to survive financially. When can they possibly find a way to practise the five, six daily hours needed to continue their professional activities? A special foundation should be operating to help pianists to continue growing as musicians and therefore relieving the stress of trying to survive financially.

To provide lectures from professional piano tuners on the art of piano tuning and understanding the construction of the piano and its ancestors, harpsichord, fortepiano etc.

This is an area that needs to be explored. I personally only started to fully understand how a piano was constructed by a visit some years ago to a piano factory. I only had access to this because I was invited to select a piano for a concert hall in Sydney, Australia.
Most pianists I know have NO idea how a piano is constructed nor do they have any education in regards as how to tune one. Their knowledge of harpsichord, fortepiano etc. is less. How can we possibly understand the language of keyboard composers of 17th, 18th and 19th century without any knowledge of the instruments of those periods?
We will invite specialists in piano tuning and construction plus classes studying early instruments and compare pianist language in relation to the modern concert grand.