2026 Starts on a High Note at PPI
Photo credit: John Rudoff
Dear friends of PPI
It’s our first official newsletter for 2026 and we couldn’t have started the year on a higher note! Having the utterly charming and supremely skilled Pavel Kolesnikov and Samson Tsoy at Lincoln Hall this past Sunday felt more celebratory, life-affirming, and hopeful to us than any ball drop or cork pop, and confirmed, once again, that a world with pianos in it is a world we want to live in!
With the frenzy of the festive season firmly behind us (whew!) and 51 more weeks of 2026 stretching out before us like a challenging hiking trail, we want to offer you some securities in your proverbial backpack, knowing fair and well that vague resolutions rarely make it beyond the first pothole or rocky hill.
Thanks to your generosity, we made our yearend fundraising target for the fourth year in a row. We are deeply grateful for every single contribution.
We have three new board members (a phenomenal pianist, a distinguished retired journalist and librarian, and the head of keyboard studies at PSU), infusing our already vigorous team with even more energy and initiative.
Planning is well underway for your chance to experience summer-in-April at our annual Piano Beach gala. “Come back to the Keys” if you’ve been eyeing your sandals and sundresses longingly (or just want to hang out with good food, good friends and great music).
We have two more Timeless recitals (the dazzling, fearless Tamara Stefanovich and the sage and serene Filippo Gorini) as well as our second Boundless recital (imaginative entertainer Charlie Albright) to look forward to, before wrapping up the 2025/2026 season and wowing you with the fabulous plans we are lining up for 2026/2027 and 2027/2028 (our Golden Anniversary!)
We have Filippo Gorini with us for the entire month of March … with a whole gamut of performances, teaching and outreach opportunities lined up. For anyone under the impression that concert pianists only play concert halls, this will be the month to radically change your perceptions! (Watch the trailer for his Sonata for 7 Cities project to get a taste of his vision!)
The PPI team, together with all our wonderful sister organizations, are fully committed to keep working tirelessly, to ensure that great art continues thriving in our favorite city.
(And with all that said, feeling his southern roots bubbling up, Bill Crane would probably add: “And, darlings, it’s because y’all make it possible!”)
We are incredibly grateful to each one of you! May 2026 be a PPI year to remember!
PS: Because we didn’t officially communicate with you on New Year’s Eve and it’s never too late for more good wishes or a good piano solo, a lovely piece written for 31 December (German “Sylvester”) by Robert Schumann and performed by PPI friend and alumnus Vladimir Feltsmann.
