We’re feeling the love!
Dear friends of PPI
If you are familiar with the beast called “Spring Fundraiser” and came to our “Back to the Keys” party last Sunday, I think you’d agree that PPI’s take on benefit events is the most fun, by far! What a fabulous time we had at Piano Beach!
Naturally, that’s all because of you, because all of the 127 guests who attended on Sunday felt like loyal and fun-loving friends, and your collective cheer and enthusiasm for PPI were fizzing in the colorful cocktails and radiating from the vivid outfits and lovely leis. From Darrell Grant’s rollicking rhythms to your generous paddle raises; from piano student Lucy Joo’s cheeky take on “Wade in the Water” to the guest appearance of Beach Guy (impish alter ego of ED Bill Crane) – the merrymaking was matchless, and once again we can report with gratitude that our annual fund is standing strong. This means more music for yet another season to come, and, that, with renewed fervor, we can keep making the metropolitan area safe for the piano!
That last bit is a joke. What is not a joke, is how grateful we feel to our gala patrons. Also: Our peerless team of volunteers and chairwoman, Demi Haffenreffer, deserve endless praise in rondo form.
Truly: PPI is thriving, and in the slipstream of a frenetic late winter and early spring, we feel an overwhelming sense of appreciation for our projects, our people and our city.
BREAKING NEWS: On April 15th, the City of Portland passed an adjustment to the budget that releases $1.6 million from the Art Tax reserves to arts and culture organizations to be distributed equally amongst the General Operating Support arts and culture organizations ($20K to each of 79 groups). This adjustment was proposed by Council President Jamie Dunphy, in large part thanks to the work of Portland Arts and Culture for Equity and Portland Arts Leaders working together with support from our communities. We couldn’t agree more with Council President Dunphy, who, on April 8th, said: “Music and the arts will be the key to the rebirth of our downtown and the health and safety of our streets, our kids, and our culture as a city.”
Our Spring Tholen session, which ran from March 27–29, was a wonderful success, adding two more graduates (Lilin Chen and Ellen McQuilken) to the roster of Tholen alumni. We are especially proud of Master Teachers Chad Bowles and Tony Padilla, who unhesitatingly doubled their teaching loads when our third Master Teacher, Tatiana Ioudenitch, had to bow out due to illness. The Tholen Fellowship remains a unique pedagogical support program, offering one-on-one mentorships for mid-career piano teachers.
Our 2026-2027 season subscriptions opened last week to current subscribers. Subscriptions will open to everyone on June 1st, and we can already tell that our 49th season will be sheer gold for piano lovers!
We will close out the season in a big way, with Charlie Albright on Friday, 8 May at 7:30. Buy your tickets now if you haven’t done so already! (We have it from a reliable source that he’s including a jazzy piece entitled “Scratch my Bach”. Sure sounds like fun to us!)
