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We love sharing news from the piano world with you. Here are our recent posts.

PPI's new recordings roundup for March
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PPI's new recordings roundup for March

As we inch our way toward the first day of spring, we're listening to music that evokes the beauty of the impending season in ways both poetic and primal.

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PPI's new recordings roundup for February
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PPI's new recordings roundup for February

Nothing soothes the soul during the dark days of February quite like music. (Especially if it's accompanied by a hot toddy!) So if you're feeling an acute case of the mid-winter blahs, be sure to check out these albums we currently have on rotation.

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PPI's new recordings roundup for September
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PPI's new recordings roundup for September

Cozy season is here — and that means much more time on the couch curled up with a hot bevy and beautiful piano music. This month, we're sharing Krystian Zimerman's white-hot readings of Szymanowski, Víkingur Ólafsson's most personal album to date, and Cyprien Katsaris's virtuosic takes on Saint-Saëns's grand orchestral works.

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New recordings from Yuja Wang, Lucas & Arthur Jussen, and Daniil Trifonov
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New recordings from Yuja Wang, Lucas & Arthur Jussen, and Daniil Trifonov

Here are three new albums to check out and add to your playlist. The highlights include Yuja Wang's performance of Mendelssohn's Piano Sextet and First Piano Concerto with the Verbier Festival Orchestra; the brother-duo, Lucas & Arthur Jussen, in a fantastic DG album of two piano works; and Daniil Trifonov collaborates with the baritone Matthias Goerne in gorgeous lieder.

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New recordings from Martin James Bartlett, Mitsuko Uchida, Daniel Barenboim
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New recordings from Martin James Bartlett, Mitsuko Uchida, Daniel Barenboim

Here are three new albums to check out and add to your playlist. The highlights include Martin James Bartlett's sensational album with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and music from the art deco period. Mitsuko Uchida released the complete Beethoven Diabelli Variations. And, Daniel Barenboim plays piano "encores" as a prequel to celebrating his 80th birthday this coming November.

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New recordings from Ruth Slenczynska, Lara Downes, Valentina Lisitsa
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New recordings from Ruth Slenczynska, Lara Downes, Valentina Lisitsa

Here are three new albums to check out and add to your playlist. The highlights include 97-year-old Ruth Slenczynska's return on the Decca label after six decades; Lara Downes releases an all-Joplin disc which is unusual for a pianist of her calibre; and Valentina Lisitsa's first all-Scriabin album on the Naïve label.

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New recordings from Igor Levit, Jan Lisiecki, Daniel Barenboim
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New recordings from Igor Levit, Jan Lisiecki, Daniel Barenboim

Let's kick off the year with new recordings you might have missed from late last year. We've found Igor Levit's new album, Jan Lisiecki's single released ahead of the full album coming February 18, and lastly Daniel Barenboim's new single track added to Deutsche Grammophon's ever-growing playlist "Musical Moments.”

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New recordings from Bruce Liu, Gina Alice, and Mao Fujita
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New recordings from Bruce Liu, Gina Alice, and Mao Fujita

You might find our roundup of newly released piano recordings valuable for your listening pleasure. At times it might be hard to sift through the many new recordings released — digital or physical — and pleasantly consume it. In the spirit of focused curation, here are four discs that should put a smile on your dial.

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Music from Janina Fialkowska and Boris Giltburg 
Bill Crane Bill Crane

Music from Janina Fialkowska and Boris Giltburg 

All the carryings-on that must take place to keep things humming at PPI headquarters in recent days have been, in a word, just a blur. All of it is good, but, golly, what my organist colleague Michael Kleinschmidt used to call “administrivia” can make one forget momentarily the evanescent beauty of the piano.

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Special gifts from the music world
Bill Crane Bill Crane

Special gifts from the music world

Quite a surprise popped up in the PPI office on Monday, a special contribution of $10,000 from a subscriber/donor and I hadn’t even asked her for it! Talk about a great way to start the week! Of course, I phoned her immediately to say thanks and in our terrific conversation, she told me about her just loving the music, admiring our pivot last year to on-line programming, and lots of other flattering things. That will buoy our spirits for many days to come.

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Preview our solo artists for 2021 / 2022
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Preview our solo artists for 2021 / 2022

Check out a brief roundup below of video performances featuring the six SOLO artists joining our 2021 / 2022 season. Explore what a subscription looks like with us. Join us in-person as we deliver world class piano concerts in Portland, Oregon.

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Music gets delayed sometimes... 
Bill Crane Bill Crane

Music gets delayed sometimes... 

Music gets delayed sometimes. Sometimes a composer makes a piece even better. Sometimes strange circumstances get in the way of scheduled performances. Right now, that is happening all over the world, and to Portland Piano International, too.

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Black music matters, too 
Bill Crane Bill Crane

Black music matters, too 

Black lives matter. Black music matters, too.

What is a music-lover to think in these extraordinary times? More important, what is one to do?

We have given so much thought in the past three weeks to what might be an “official” statement from PPI about the awful circumstances of racial inequality, the indescribable horror of the murder of George Floyd, and others before and after him, and how the world has come unglued in the face of it all.

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Will PPI have a solo season next year? We really want to.
Bill Crane Bill Crane

Will PPI have a solo season next year? We really want to.

For 43 years, portland piano international, a family, really, of music lovers who together have brought the world’s most amazing solo pianists to portland for intimate, thrilling recitals, has presented these exceptional programs in lincoln performance hall, and occasionally other fine venues, to live audiences. As is true for all performing arts presenters in these challenging times, it is unclear to us whether we will be able to present our normal live concerts beginning this fall, but we surely want to!

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