Deutsche Grammophon’s star pianists mark World Piano Day (28 March 2020) with global virtual festival

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Deutsche Grammophon is set to mark World Piano Day on Saturday 28 March with an international virtual festival featuring performances by members of its family of artists.

The roster of stars includes Maria João Pires, Rudolf Buchbinder, Evgeny Kissin, Víkingur Ólafsson, Jan Lisiecki, Joep Beving, Simon Ghraichy, Kit Armstrong and Daniil Trifonov. Other artists are expected to join the line-up as part of DG’s celebration of music’s power to bring people together.

Dr Clemens Trautmann, President Deutsche Grammophon, comments: “Technology allows us to turn this year’s World Piano Day into an online space where masterful pianists can share positive and uplifting messages through music, performing on their own pianos and reaching people in their homes. We are deeply grateful to all those musicians who have agreed to take part and invite everyone to join the virtual festival audience.”

Viewers will be able to watch streams of some of the world’s finest pianists via YouTube and Facebook using the hashtags #StayAtHome and #WorldPianoDay. The one-off programme will be streamed live at 3pm CET on 28 March and will be available online only for a limited period after that.

Deutsche Grammophon’s World Piano Day festival will comprise a series of short performances, each lasting between 20 and 30 minutes and pre-recorded live by the artists in their homes on high-definition smartphone video. The programme promises to share the unbeatable experience of music made in the moment with a vast potential worldwide audience.

The experience can be prolonged and heightened by listening to DG’s Piano Masters playlist – across all digital subscription platforms – which will feature recordings by all participating artists.