Celebrating some madcap milestones
Season 2025-2026 recap in numbers and nuggets
Dear friends of PPI
Together, we’ve done it again: enjoying a full season of peerless piano music, passionately and carefully curated for optimal listening pleasure, emotional resonance and intellectual reverence. Looking back on eight recitals over nine months (six Timeless and two Boundless) we are filled with gratitude and wonder, because, holy guacamole, what fun we had (while working like crazy)!
2715 tickets were sold, pointing to a pleasantly surprising increase in ticket sales over the past four years. (Reporting increased sales is an outlier sitting well above the national norm. See this fascinating report for more detailed analysis of arts participation around the country.)
8 wonderfully diverse programs were played by 7 men and 2 women (a gender imbalance we’re working on correcting, while acknowledging that Elizabeth Roe and Tamara Stefanovich probably equal the talent and multitasking skill of four men, no offense to our phenonmenal male artists…)
7 pre-concert lectures (3 with performers on stage) were presented to a growing group of inquisitive patrons, corroborating our belief that better understanding leads to better listening.
7 hotel rooms, 1 private apartment (with grand piano), 1 private home (with grand piano) and 1 AirBnB (with grand piano and horse) were occupied at various times by delighted pianists who all fell in love with Portland. (6 visits to Multnomah Falls, 2 trips to the Japanese Garden and 2 trips to the Portland Art Museum probably deserve special mention.)
10 stage outfits were chosen in colors other than black. (To our knowledge, we are the only classical piano organization in the world insisting on non-black clothing in our contract. We’re contemplating adding fun socks to the required concert attire.)
12 pounds of custom-roasted coffee (thanks, Badbeard’s Coffee!) were consumed at our Timeless recitals, keeping patrons and pianists alert and alive!
36 dozen cookies, 300 bottles of mineral water, 350 ice-cream sandwiches, 20 dark chocolate bars, and a small boatload of bananas were polished off on both sides of the curtain during the season – confirming our belief that making and appreciating good music requires the holy trinity of nutrition (caffeine, refined sugar and saturated fat, of course).
8 recital sponsors (all loyal patrons just like you) got to dine with an artist, as part of our agreement with our recitalists to socially engage with our audience. (Here we should add a special shout-out to Tasty Corner, our official office annex.)
8 standing ovations and 8 heartfelt encores reverberated through Lincoln Hall and confirmed, truimphantly and overwhelmingly, that PPI captivates souls, season upon season.
Thank you for making Season 2025–2026 one of our best yet.
We can’t wait to share the 2026-2027 lineup with the general public. If you’re a current subscriber: You have one more week to secure your existing seat. If you’re hoping to become a subscriber: Expect the new season brochure in your mailbox by June 1st, 2026.
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