A Yamaha Conservatory Grand in the home of the magazine’s editorial director, Jonathan Spira
Happy Piano Day, everyone! It’s time to gently tinkle the ivories!
The idea for World Piano Day originated with the Berlin-based pianist Nils Frahm in 2015.
The holiday falls on the 88th day of the year – in 2023, that would be March 29 – and is a worldwide event founded by a “group of like-minded people,” the holiday’s website explains. The 88th day was chosen because of the number of keys on a standard piano.
“Why does the world need a Piano Day?” Frahm asked himself. “For many reasons,” he continued. “But mostly, because it doesn’t hurt to celebrate the piano and everything around it: performers, composers, piano builders, tuners, movers and most important, the listener.”
In the run-up to Piano Day in 2023, events were held in Innsbruck, Kent, Kyoto, Scottsdale, Tokyo, Budapest, Leeds, Salerno, London, Naples, Bruges, Berlin, Gothenburg, Antwerp, Helsinki, Düsseldorf, Reykjavík, Guernsey, Zürich, and Oslo, among others, and still other events will take place in the coming days in multiple cities including Stockholm, Paris, Mexico City, and Melbourne.
The group has released an official companion album, “Piano Day Vol. 2,” which includes new work by acclaimed artists Yann Tiersen, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, James Heather, Otto A. Totland, and Liam Mour.
The album is available on vinyl as well as digitally on most streaming services such as Apple Music, Amazon Music, Spotify, Tidal, Deezer, and Bandcamp.
Other ways to celebrate include sitting down at the keyboard if you are musically inclined, going to a recital, purchasing a new piano, having your piano tuned, taking a tour of the Bösendorfer factory in Vienna, visiting Steinway Hall in New York City, and listening to some of our favorite pianists including Martha Argerich, Alfred Brendel, Van Cliburn, Leon Fleisher, Leopold Godowsky, Glenn Gould, Vladimir Horowitz, Evgeny Kissen, Alicia de Larrocha, Maurizio Pollini, Sviatoslav Richter, Arthur Rubinstein, and Artur Schnabel.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
