Attend a PPI Beyond the Score Master Class and let an expert lead you!
PPI’s former Board Chair Kris Kern, Board member Brendan O’Scannlain and Bill Crane, holding one of his DIY masterpieces.
Dear friends of PPI,
DIY (or what the French so beautifully call “bricolage”) can be a truly wonderful thing. Tinkering around mindfully, expanding your physical and mental skills, creating something new and patiently seeing a project through from start to finish can yield extremely satisfying results – especially if you end up with a visually pleasing result that saved you money and earned you the respect of your tribe.
We PPI’ers are all devoted to DIY pursuits (did you know that Bill just won another first place at the Oregon State Fair for one of his phenomenal quilts?) – but we are also hyperaware of the fact that skill-building isn’t always a solitary affair. In fact: As pianists, we couldn’t agree more with Angela Duckworths’ argument in this article, that confirms something every serious instrumentalist knows: Self-sufficiency is an illusion. To become a better player, yes, you need to practice, but you also need the help and guidance of someone who’s well ahead of you in the game!
Portland Piano International invites you deeper into the don’t-do-it-yourself arena with our Beyond the Score Master Classes: the opportunity, as a participant, to have a one-on-one session with one of our Timeless artists or, as an audience member, to see a true master pass on expert knowledge in an intimate setting.
Not only are these sessions FREE* – they also offer an extraordinary chance to see a side of our recitalists that often go unnoticed: the fact that their astonishing skills are the compound result of hours of receiving excellent teaching. The medical world’s pedagogical slogan “See one, do one, teach one” gets new meaning when master pianist and committed student work through a stumbling block together with immediate, audible results.
Do-it-yourself is no way to improve your piano skills! We invite students of all ages whose playing is at a high level – relative to their age and capacity – to apply for our Season 2026–2027 master classes. With two sessions to consider (Monday, October 26, 2026 with Gabriela Montero, or Saturday, March 13, 2027 with Boris Giltburg), you have ample time to prepare and plan for what could very well be a life-changing session!
* It is free to attend the event as an audience member and/or participate as a student. We do charge a $25 non-refundable application fee to cover administrative costs.