The Fifth International Stretto Piano Festival is thrilled to introduce pianist Rachel Starritt, a native of Wales, who will play a solo piano recital from her home on a 6.0 Pinkham piano.

A video upload to our 2025 YouTube festival Playlist will be released on November 21st.

PROGRAM

Bach /Busoni, Ich Ruh zu dir Herr Jesu Christ with improvised preluding 

Rachel Starritt, short Improvised Fugue on the Chorale Theme

Franz Liszt, Il Lamento from 3 Concert Études 

Robert Schumann, Sonata No. 3 Op. 14, Mvmt. 1

Emanuel Chabrier, Impromptu in C major

Aleksandr Scriabin, Valse Op. 38

Rachel Starritt, short improvisation transition

Aleksandr Michalowski, Étude after Impromptu Op. 29 by Chopin 

Franz Liszt, Concert Paraphrase on Rigoletto with embellishments

Blind from birth, Rachel was born in Bridgend, South Wales in 1994. She has received formal training on the piano since 2006 with Alison Bowring and studied at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) where she achieved a distinction in piano performance (MMus) in 2022 as a postgraduate student.

​​

​Rachel completed a six month Erasmus placement in 2017 at the Conservatori Liceu in Barcelona under the tutelage of pianist Alba Ventura. Rachel has a talent for languages with fluency in both Welsh and Spanish and conversational competence in French and Italian.

Rachel performed at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in May 2024 where she played with the Hong Kong Youth Orchestra, several school choirs and a duet with Adrian Anantawan.

​

In November 2022, Rachel was one of a number of international artists who played in the True Colors Festival at the Tokyo Garden Theatre in Japan.

​Rachel's piano improvisation skills complement her love of jazz and she currently leads a jazz trio 'The Rachel Starritt Trio', which appeared at the Brecon Jazz Festival in 2020, 2021 and 2024. At the 2021 Brecon Jazz Festival she frequently appeared as an announcer, introducing acts in both Welsh and English, sharing these duties with violinist Heulwen Thomas. Rachel has studied with Nikki Iles and Douglas Finch, and has also received lessons with the renowned Welsh pianist and composer Huw Warren.

​

Rachel is a member of the 'RNS Moves' Ensemble which is based at the Glasshouse in Gateshead. RNS Moves is a unique, inclusive ensemble featuring disabled musicians and non-disabled musicians of the Royal Northern Sinfonia. There is a high focus on improvisation using a variety of sounds and techniques across the breadth of musical genres.

​

Rachel has been the accompanist of the Kenfig and District Male Voice Choir since September 2023. The choir practice twice a week and have a number of performances throughout the year including the Emergency Services Carol Service at Llandaff Cathedral in December each year. Rachel works closely with the choir director (Rhian Thomas) and they have developed repertoire that incorporates jazz as well utilising Rachel's improvisation skills.  

​

Rachel has played piano at a variety of venues, for example, St Martin in the Fields in London, and private functions with diverse music genres including classical, jazz and contemporary/popular culture. 

​​​​

Rachel is a member of the British Paraorchestra and played at Glastonbury in 2019 as part of The Love Unlimited Synth Orchestra, as a tribute to Barry White.

Tina Davis will share an insightful presentation, featuring a Kawai MP11SE with DS6.0 keys

SPECIAL EVENT in Niigata, Japan

On November 16th, Professor Koji Tanaka of Niigata University hosted a public trial session and talk event featuring an upright piano with narrow keys. During the event, Professor Tanaka, Chiaki Kuroda —founder of the Japan Narrow Key Piano Society —, and Aki Sato spoke to the audience from different perspectives.

The event took place at the Music Building of the Faculty of Education at Niigata University, where an upright piano with stretto keys made by the Brother company is housed. Participation in both the trial session and the talk event was open to the general public.

Event Schedule from the invite:

1. Try playing the narrow key piano
   You can freely play the upright narrow-key piano owned by Niigata University.

2. Open Piano Discussion
   Topics:

• “Hand Size and Piano Performance” by Koji Tanaka (Niigata University Professor, Pianist)

• “History and Future of Keyboard Width Sizes” by Chiaki Kuroda (Member of the Narrow Key Piano Association)

• “Piano Performance and Hand Injuries” by Aki Sato (Member of the Narrow Key Piano Association, Doctor)
  Let’s casually discuss various topics with everyone gathered at the venue

Participation Fee: Free

Registration:
Please register via the https://forms.gle/MPEK3Pd7UnqwLrFj8
Or send an email to ktanaka@ed.niigata-u.ac.jp
Details about the venue will be sent by email to those who register.

Organizers:
Niigata University Faculty of Education, Department of Music & Faculty of Engineering, Human Support Sensory Science Program, Tanaka Laboratory

Enjoy this student program featuring the Pinkham Upright with 6.0 keyboard and the Athena 5.5!

The Fifth International Stretto Piano Festival is excited to welcome its first Tokyo-based performance event featuring these fine artists!

PROGRAM

Frederic Chopin: Barcarolle F# Major Op.60

Ayako Yamazaki, piano　

Dan Ikuma & Hakushu Kitamura: Six Songs for Children

Miki Katsumasa, soprano & Haruka Uehara, piano

Additional programming TBA

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

This concert presents a combination of Western and Japanese music, played on a Hailun H-1P 6.0-inch octave keyboard. Six Songs for Children(1945) was composed by Dan Ikuma, with lyrics by Hakushu Kitamura.
These pieces are categorized as Japanese classical music.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Ayako Yamazaki has performed in various solo concerts and is also active as a
vocal and instrumental ensemble pianist. In 2019, she started an online piano class. She has taught over 450
students from Japan and around the world. She received the PTNA Teaching Award five years in a row. She
graduated from the Kunitachi College of Music, Department of Instrumental Music as a Piano Major. She completed her Master's program at Seitoku University Graduate School of Music and Culture.


Haruka Uehara is an amateur pianist who has been playing the piano since she was five years old. She has competed in national competitions. She also manages a studio equipped with a stretto piano, and is involved in planning and running piano concerts and regional competitions. She is a member of the Japan Music Association. Ms. Uehara reached out to the Stretto Piano Festival with the wish to present this Tokyo-based event.

Miki Katsumasa, soprano, devoted herself to choral singing from an early age, honing her ability to read music and express herself. An active performer, she has appeared in numerous citizen opera productions. She played Hansel in "Hansel and Gretel," and has appeared in numerous productions including "Cinderella," "The Magic
Flute," "The Red Devil," and "Gianni Schicchi.” A graduate of Kunitachi College of Music, she majored in Childhood Education.  She is involved in sacred music concerts, live performances, and music for videos. She is a member of the Tokyo City Opera Association.

This performance is being played on a Yamaha C7X concert grand fitted with a DS6.0 keyboard in São Paulo/Brazil – a cooperation of A Loja de Pianos and the DS Standard Foundation, arranged by Silvia Molan/HMDK Stuttgart (Germany).

PROGRAM

Including timestamps on the YouTube video

00:43- Baiao De Chegada- Mariana Rodrigues

03:37- 13 De Dezembro- Luiz Gonzaga/Zé dantas

06:52- Homenagm A Chiquino Do acordeon - Dominguinhos e Guadalupe

10:56- A Lenda Do Caboclo- H. Villa Lobos

14:40- Forrozinho No.1- André Marques

19:54- O Sim Pelo Não- Francis Hime

23:19- Amor Barato- Francis Hime

25:43- Cartão Postal- Francis Hime

29:52- Parintintin- Francis Hime

33:45- Nação Primeira- Hercules Gomes

BIO

With a classical background, pianist Mariana Rodrigues has been developing, for several years now, important work in the field of Brazilian instrumental music, refining her research and interpretation of traditional rhythms through the various projects she is involved in. She is the pianist of Brazú Quintê, with whom she has recorded four albums featuring guest artists such as Vanessa Moreno, Breno Ruiz, Gui Silveira, and Manu Cavalaro, and has performed at important festivals including the 1st São Paulo Jazz Weekend and Festival Jazz a la Calle. However, her individual background—deeply rooted in the classical piano repertoire and its technical specificities—permeates her entire approach to interpreting popular music, making inevitable her reflections on what connects these two worlds. From this intersection emerges the main aspect of her budding artistic production. In this concert, the pianist performs compositions based on Brazilian rhythms such as samba, choro, maracatu, forró, among others, featuring the special participation of guitarist Fabio Leal. The repertoire includes works by composers such as H. Villa-Lobos, Dominguinhos, Luiz Gonzaga, Hercules Gomes, André Marques, and Francis Hime, who are central references in the pianist’s musical universe, directly influencing her language and interpretation. This performance is being played on a Yamaha C7X concert grand fitted with a DS6.0 keyboard in São Paulo/Brazil – a cooperation of A Loja de Pianos and the DS Standard Foundation, arranged by Silvia Molan/HMDK Stuttgart (Germany).

More About The Artist

Mariana Rodrigues started her studies at Conservatório Dramático e Musical Dr. Carlos de Campos de Tatuí (Dr. Carlos de Campos Drama and Music Conservatory of Tatuí) and has a degree in Piano at Escola de Comunicação e Artes da Universidade de São Paulo - USP (São Paulo University Communication and Art School). 

Currently she's been developing her original work "Suíte Niramar", which consists of a series of 18 pieces for solo piano that was developed in 2020 during the pandemics and it reflects her musical experience and references. The pianist is also a member of Brazú Quintê, which is a group that explores the sound of chamber music with a Brazilian swing. The group had their first album released in 2018 through ProAC Editais Award and in the same year they were finalists of Samsung E-Festival Award. Mariana took part in the recording of the album "Canções para Iluminar o Mundo" from singer Manu Cavalaro in 2020 and the group traveled to Uruguay in order to perform at the Festival Jazz A La Calle in 2022. 

As a soloist, Mariana Rodrigues has been at the forefront of Orquestra Jovem de Guarulhos (Guarulhos Youth Orchestra), of Orquestra Sinfônica da Unicamp (Unicamp Symphony Orchestra) and Orquestra Jovem de Tatuí (Tatuí Youth Orchestra). She has stood out in Awards and Contests like Concurso de Jovens Solistas OCAM (OCAM Young Soloists Contest), Prêmio Nascente - USP (USP Nascent Award), Concurso Maria Tereza Madeira (Maria Tereza Contest), I Concurso Nacional Luis Thomaszeck (Luis Thomaszeck 1st National Contest) and at the Award for Best Accompanist Pianist at II Concurso de Interpretação de Música Brasileira para Flauta (2nd Flute Brazilian Music Interpretation Contest), held by Centro de Música Brasileira (Brazilian Music Center). 

She also performed at Festival Leo Brower in 2011, at I Simpósio Internacional Villa-Lobos (1st Villa-Lobos International Symposium) and at a series of composer meetings produced by MIS Museu de Imagem e Som (MIS- Image and Sound Museum) where she carried out Oliver Toni pieces of work. Besides, she has also taken part at the series of Chamber Concerts promoted by Itaú Cultural, where she introduced the piece "Invocações" from composer Adriana Norat. 

As a composer, Mariana Rodrigues composed the soundtrack of the short animation film "Um artista da Fome", directed by Moisés Pantolfi.

Teodora Adzharova + Ramin Arjomand

Stretto Festival collaboration with Spectrum NYC

Sunday, November 9

4 PM

The International Stretto Piano Festival is delighted to collaborate with Spectrum NYC, an exciting New Music organization in NYC that often works with pianist-composers and living composers.

Single program of 1 hour, 20 minutes, played straight through.

First set: (~15-20 minutes):

Ramin Arjomand, piano improvisations

Second Set: (~70 minutes, uninterrupted):

Teodora Adzharova, piano

Selections from The Vanishing Pavilions by Michael Hersch 

Interspersed with Twelve Preludes by Galina Ustvolskaya

Transcription of Music by Josquin des Prez by Michael Hersch

Reception to follow.

Click here to read more about Spectrum, a remarkable organization established to “foster innovation and virtuosity in the arts,” and has since asserted itself as one of New York City's enthusiastic venues for modernist, experimental music (and other endeavors), presenting over 2,400 events.

“[Spectrum] has become a go-to place for contemporary fare.”
— Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times

“…a cozy, ambitious performing-arts space.”
— Steve Smith, The New Yorker

About Teodora Adzharova

Laureate of numerous national and international competitions, Dr. Teodora

Adzharova’s career has taken her to multiple performance venues in the United States,

Bulgaria, France, Germany, Macedonia, Serbia, and the Czech Republic. Described as

a “true musician” with “electrifying energy” and “limitless emotional and dynamic range”

(NYCR), the Bulgarian pianist has established herself as one of the most sought-after

musicians in the Baltimore, MD-Washington, D.C. region, frequently collaborating with

musicians from both the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and the

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Some of Dr. Adzharova’s recent performances include

appearances at the Peabody Institute, University of Maryland, Baltimore County,

Goucher College, York College, Catholic University of America, the DiMenna Center, the

Bulgarian Embassy in D.C., the Washington Arts Club, and Silo Hill. 

Dr. Adzharova’s 2025–2026 season will feature the release of her debut solo album

dedicated to the music of Dmitri Shostakovich. The CD will include the

composer’s Preludes, Op. 34 and Piano Sonata, Op. 61. One of the few pianists who

performs both of Shostakovich’s piano sonatas in a single program, Dr. Adzharova has

presented lecture-recitals of the repertoire at Peabody (2025), UMBC (2022), the World

Piano Conference (Serbia, 2023), and the DiMenna Center (New York, 2024). Her

interest in the legacy of Shostakovich has garnered the recognition of Alan Mercer,

editor-in-chief of the international DSCH Journal, leading to collaborations and the

publication of Dr. Adzharova’s writings. 

As a passionate educator, she teaches at the Peabody Preparatory division, where she

also coordinates the Musicianship for Pianists program. Her previous faculty

appointments include the Peabody Conservatory, UMBC, Community College of

Baltimore County and the Leon Fleisher Academy. Dr. Adzharova is a board member of

the Greater Baltimore Music Teacher Association and is a sought-after adjudicator for

numerous regional and state competitions and recitals. In 2019, Dr. Adzharova’s

dedication to chamber music and community engagement led her to become the Co-

founder and Co-Artistic Director of the Annunciation Cathedral Concert Series. Each

season, the series offers inventive and accessible classical music programming to the

Baltimore community, promoting high-caliber artists from the region and beyond. 

Dr. Adzharova holds piano performance degrees from the Peabody Institute (DMA,

2020; Performance Diploma, 2013; MM, 2011), where she studied with Ellen Mack. 

About the program

A set of 50 movements divided into two books, The Vanishing Pavilions is a large-scale

work composed by Michael Hersch and inspired by the poetry of Christopher Middleton.

Written over a span of five years, the work explores a vast range of emotions that can

be unsettling, disturbing, frightful and yet tender and pure in their unassuming

directness. From sparse textural simplicity to multi-layered sophistication, the work is

held together by a subtle narrative of harmonic implications and musical gestures. The

premiere took place in 2006 in the hands of the composer himself. Performed in its

entirety, the cycle lasts approximately two and a half hours, and it represents one third of

a much larger work - sew me into a shroud of leaves. 

In stark opposition to The Vanishing Pavilions stand Ustvolskaya’s Twelve Preludes

composed in 1953. As a composer working during the Stalinist era, her music did not

achieve popularity at the time, and it has only recently reached wider recognition. A

woman of fierce, brutal, and uncompromising nature, Ustvolskaya considered herself

“unique” and her music as untouched by any musical influences. The preludes are

representative of the composer’s affinity for stark textures, dramatic contrasts, and

obstinacy of musical ideas.

About Ramin Amir Arjomand

Ramin Amir Arjomand is an Iranian-American composer, pianist, conductor, and

teacher based in Brooklyn. His music blurs distinctions between composition and

improvisation, demanding in each the spontaneity as well as the level of formal

intelligence often associated with one or the other individually and exclusively. His

playing draws as much on a 19th-century European approach to piano resonance as it

does on the unfettered sensibility of American avant-garde jazz. Beneath the surface

lies a musical ethos that quietly echoes the Iranian dastgah tradition.

Arjomand’s research has focused on the polyphonic technique of 15th-Century Franco-

Flemish composers. His pedagogical essay, “On Contrapuntal Practice,” is based largely

on his research into this music. His interest in vocal music and in speech as music has

led to a wide variety of concert, electroacoustic, and music theater works that

experiment with the human voice in different ways.

Arjomand has worked extensively as a composer, pianist, lecturer, and musical adviser

for modern dance. He has worked to develop collaborative models in which composer

and choreographer can trust one another to work freely and independently toward a

common goal. His approach to dance theater composition emphasizes contrapuntal

relationships between sound and movement.

Arjomand is the recipient of awards from The New York Foundation for the Arts, the Alice M.

Ditson Fund, the FACE Foundation, and the New York City Artist Corps. His music has

been presented by ensembles and soloists in venues throughout the United States,

Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. A highly sought-after teacher, he is currently on the

faculty at Columbia University and the Steinhardt School at New York University, where

he is the recipient of the 2022-2023 Steinhardt Teaching Excellence Award. He

maintains a private teaching studio in Brooklyn. 

Listen to an interview with Ramin Amir Arjomand on The Earfull, where he discusses

his early life in Tehran, the secrets of counterpoint, and truth and trust in performance.

Keyboard Konversations with Kathryn

November 9, 4:00 pm, Montrose Pavilion, Montrose, Colorado

Kathryn Mientka Farruggia, pianist, performing on the DS 5.5 Keyboard

Prelude in D major, opus 23 #4………………….Sergei Rachmaninoff

As Time Goes By……………………………….………Herman Hupfeld, arr. John Zadro

Lakota Sacred Songs …………………………………trad. Lakota, arr. Farruggia

Sacred Pipe Song

Sacred Spirit InvitaMon Song

Dear Father ……………………………………………..Neil Diamond, arr. George Krezos/Farruggia

Ballade #4 in F minor………………………………..Frederic Chopin

INTERMISSION

Sonata in F minor, K. 466…………………………..Domenico ScarlaW

Fly me to the moon…………………………………..Bart Howard, arr. Francesco Perrino

Un Sospiro ………………………………………………Franz Liszt

Home Sweet Home…………………………………..Henry Bishop, arr. GoZschalk, Thalberg

Impromptu in Gb, opus 90 #3……………..…….Franz Schubert

Hallelujah-Pachelbel Canon Medley………….Leonard Cohen/Johann Pachelbel arr. Doug Montgomery

BIO

Kathryn Mientka Farruggia, pianist

Kathryn Mientka Farruggia performed internationally to critical acclaim as the pianist in the Mientka Duo, which she and her late husband, Tyme Mientka co-founded in 1983. The Duo gave concerts for 20 years in Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, and the USA, where they were featured nationally on radio and television. Their debut at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. was received with an enthusiastic standing ovation. They also were featured numerous times on National Public Radio´s Performance Today, and in 1995 they were featured on PBS television in an hour-long documentary, “Almost Famous: the Mientka Duo”. The documentary was subsequently submitted by PBS for an Emmy. The Mientka Duo was the recipient of many honors and awards, including a special prize at the Concours International de Musique de Chambre in Paris. 

Kathryn holds a Master’s Degree in Music Performance from the University of Southern California. She taught at Montana State University for two years. Subsequently she and her husband moved to Germany, where they lived for eight years, teaching and touring internationally. In 1995 they moved to Colorado. From 1999 to 2004 they founded and directed an after-school music and dance conservatory, a youth orchestra and a youth choir.

Kathryn founded the Western Slope Concert Series in Colorado, now in its 24th season, and is a founding member, pianist and music arranger in the cross-over Celtic band FEAST, which has toured nationally with great success and has been featured on PBS. Kathryn is founding member of Il Divo Colorado, a singing group which has toured Colorado with great success. She was staff pianist for the vocal faculty for six years at Colorado Mesa University and was staff piano accompanist for the vocal faculty at Northern Arizona University for two years.

Her special crusade is promoting the DS 5.5 narrow-keys keyboard, made by David Steinbuhler especially for small hands. She performs regularly on the keyboard, which fits into her Yamaha grand piano. In 2019 she presented a lecture-demonstration on the narrow keyboard at Northern State University in Flagstaff, for the Arizona State Music Teachers Association. In 2021 she performed a series of three piano recitals on the DS 5.5 at the Homestake Opera House in Lead, South Dakota. The themed lecture recitals were titled The Romantic Piano, The Epic Liszt Sonata, and The Piano through History. Kathryn and her husband Charles Farruggia recently relocated from the Black Hills to the beautiful Ozark Mountains in Arkansas. In December of 2022 they opened “Farruggia’s Music and Supper Club” in Mountain View, Arkansas. The supper club offers Italian cooking by Charles, and following dinner, Kathryn and Charles perform a show. The show features “oldies” songs sung by Charles, an accomplished baritone, and classical piano solos featuring Kathryn. Kathryn performs on her Yamaha C-7 grand piano with the DS 5.5 keyboard.

970-234-7408

cellopiano23@gmail.com

A grand piano that grows your hands ...

Inauguration of the first narrower (SIRIUS 6.0) key grand in an Austrian music education institute with concert, lectures, round tables and ‘get together.’

Students and teachers from the Tyrolean State Conservatory Innsbruck and the partner University Mozarteum Innsbruck will perform on the new grand.
Outstanding experts of the smaller keys movement will give lecture-recitals:

• Prof. Dr. Carol Leone (SMU Dallas/USA): “Narrower keys – a game changer for pianists”

• Prof. Ulrike Wohlwender & Silvia C. Molan (HMDK Stuttgart/Germany): “SIRIUS 6.0 – piano keys that grow your hands”

• Professor Ulrich Hench (HfM Nuremberg/Germany) will take part in the round table.

All interested participants have the chance to try out the grand piano.

Artistic direction and project management:

Prof. Annette Seiler, Tyrolean State Conservatory Innsbruck

https://www.konstirol.at/konzerte/veranstaltung/ein-fluegel-der-haende-wachsen-laesst/

The Fifth International Stretto Piano Festival is pleased to partner with Steingraeber Piano and The Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music for this event, presenting a Steingraber 130SFM upright piano with narrow keys for the performers.

Steingraeber was the first piano manufacturer to place pianos with narrow keys in its showroom, a leader in innovation and hand-crafted piano technology.

PROGRAM

Works by Fryderyk Chopin and George Crumb

 

Performers:

Jadwiga Mglej

Veronika Zalewska

Aleksandra Dąbek

Aleksandra Hortensja Dąbek was born on October 1st, 1996, in Cracow, Poland. She graduated with distinction from the Academy of Music in Cracow, where she studied piano under the guidance of Professor Ewa Bukojemska and period piano. In 2023, she earned the title of Doctor of Musical Arts after successfully defending her doctoral thesis on the piano works of Franciszek Mirecki. Currently, she is an assistant at the Piano  Department at the Academy of Music in Cracow. 

Aleksandra began her musical education at the age of seven, studying at the Public School of Music of the 1st grade in Krzeszowice under Beata Zając. Later, she continued her studies at the Władysław Żeleński State Secondary School of Music in Cracow, where Olga Łazarska played a crucial role in her development. From 2012 to 2015, she refined her skills in the piano class of Professor Wojciech Świtała.

She is a laureate of numerous prestigious international piano competitions, including Chopinowskie Interpretacje Młodych (2019, 2nd Prize), 7th International Chopin Competition in Budapest (2016, 3rd Prize), International Piano Competition "Debut" in New York (2016, 2nd Prize), 2nd International Piano Competition in Karlovac, Croatia (2015, 3rd Prize), XXI International Fryderyk Chopin Competition for Children and Youth in Szafarnia (2013, 1st Prize and special prizes for the best performance of Chopin's Mazurka and Karol Szymanowski's Preludium), XX International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition for Children and Youth in Szafarnia (2012, 3rd Prize, Special Prize from the Consul of the Republic of Poland in Navarra, the Basque Country, and La Rioja, and Prize for the best performance of Chopin's Mazurka).

Aleksandra has also participated in masterclasses with renowned pianists such as Andrzej Jasiński, Tobias Koch, Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń, Dimitrij Bashkirov, Dimitrij Alexeev, Kevin Kenner, Fumiko Eguchi, and Krzysztof Jabłoński.

She has performed in numerous prestigious Polish and international festivals, including Chopin and His Europe, the International Chopin Festival in Duszniki-Zdrój, Muzyka w Starym Krakowie, Wawel o zmierzchu, Chopin au Jardin, Lato z Chopinem in Busko-Zdrój, Duettissimo!, the Abu Dhabi Festival, and Chopinowskie Interpretacje Młodych. Aleksandra has also been invited to perform at the Fryderyk Chopin Institute, taking part in Saturday recitals at Chopin’s birthplace in Żelazowa Wola and performing at the Fryderyk Chopin Museum in Warsaw as part of the Młode Talenty series. She closed the 58th season of the Chopin Concerts at the Łazienki Królewskie in Warsaw.

In 2016, she made her debut at Carnegie Hall in New York and at the Ehrbar Saal in Austria. Aleksandra has performed with the Orchestra of the Świętokrzyska Philharmonic, the Silesian Chamber Orchestra, and has played a series of concerts with the Emirates Youth Symphony Orchestra in Dubai.

In 2018, she released her debut album Chopin. Schumann. Aleksandra has been the recipient of various prestigious scholarships, including the National Foundation for Children Scholarship, the Sapere Auso Foundation Scholarship, the Yamaha Foundation Scholarship, the Mount Royal University Scholarship in Calgary, the "Młoda Polska" Program Scholarship from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

In 2025 and 2022, at the invitation of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute, she performed a series of concerts as part of EXPO 2025 in Osaka and EXPO 2020 in Dubai.

Jadwiga Mglej (born in 2001) is a pianist and a second-year master’s student in the Contemporary Music Performance program, as well as a co-founder of the Contemporary Music Performance Research Group “New Wayve.” She currently studies piano under Dr hab. Milena Kędra and Dr Martyna Zakrzewska.

She discovered her passion for contemporary music during the 1st Summer Courses of New Music for Performers in Bydgoszcz. Since then, she has been expanding her repertoire to include works from the 20th and 21st centuries.

She has refined her piano skills during numerous masterclasses led by, among others, Mariola Cieniawa, Adam Kośmieja, and Yukiko Sugawara.

Born in 2006 in Oleksandriia, Ukraine, Veronika Zalevska is currently studying under Professor Marek Szlezer at the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Kraków.

She began playing the piano at the age of five. In 2021, after winning First Prize at the Henryk Neuhaus Piano Competition in Kropyvnytskyi, she continued her musical education with Professor Serhii Riabov at the Mykola Lysenko State Music Lyceum in Kyiv.

In 2022 Veronika moved to Poland, where she pursued her artistic development in the class of Bogusława Kos at the Witold Lutosławski State Music School of the First and Second Degree in Nysa. During this time, she also studied under Dr. Hubert Salwarowski from the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice.

She has participated in piano masterclasses led by renowned artists including Marek Żebrowski, Paweł Motyczyński, Wojciech Świtała, Marc Laforet, and Stefan Stroissnig.

Eliana performs in her home studio on a Yamaha G3 with a DS5.5 keyboard!

Eliana Yi and Friends

PROGRAM

Frederic Chopin: Waltz in a minor B.150

Aidan Yonley (age 9)

Frank Proto: Sonata "1963" for Double Bass and Piano

Troy Tippawang

Eliana Yi

Sergei Rachmaninoff: Prelude in B-flat Major Op.23 No.2

Eliana Yi

BIOS

Eliana Yi, (B.M. '19, M.M. '21) is a private teacher in the East Plano area. She is known for fostering a love for music and piano in her students and her approach toward healthy piano playing. She performs regularly as a solo artist, both live and recorded, on her 5.5" keyboard, a custom-made piano designed for smaller hands. She had the fortune over the last three years to teach in the Seattle area and be a faculty member at the prestigious Chopin Academy of the Arts. Her students perform regularly for their community and participate in festivals and competitions, winning many accolades and awards.

​

Eliana graduated from her position as a teaching fellow at the Meadows School of the Arts from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. During her position there, she studied Piano Pedagogy and Performance where she took private instruction with Dr. Carol Leone and teaching supervision with Dr. Cathy Lysinger. During there she was a recipient for the Paul von Katwijk prize and Roy and Sue Johnson Award for Piano Pedagogy.

​

Hailing from Austin, Texas, Eliana had an active childhood playing cello and piano in chamber groups, orchestras, and debuting as a recitalist. She was an active performer and member of Classical Music for the World in Austin, Texas. She has performed around the state of Texas, Washington, and Germany. In 2019, she presented her research on alternatively sized keyboards at the MTNA Piano Pedagogy Collegiate Symposium in Indiana and her research on teaching small handed students at the 2021 NCKP Convention. She is currently a team member and performer for the International Stretto Piano Festivals, and a speaker for Pianists for Alternatively-Sized Keyboards (PASK) and an adjudicator for her local area. In her free time, Eliana enjoys writing nerdy sci-fi stories. She is a proud mother of a little baby boy.

An in-demand bassist and passionate music educator, Troy Tippawang has been performing on major stages across North Texas since he was 12. A graduate of Southern Methodist University, Troy studied with Thomas Lederer and Brian Perry of the Dallas Symphony, and completed both undergraduate and master's degrees in bass performance. Troy was principal bass of the Meadows Symphony Orchestra and logged many hours under the baton of Paul Phillips, which prepared him well for large ensemble work after grad school. In addition to chamber music and orchestral bass sections, Troy performs in ensembles ranging from new music concerts to jazz bands, rock bands, worship groups, and choirs.

In 2020, Troy and his wife Hannah Abercrombie (piano) co-founded Aberwang Music (www.aberwangmusic.com), a successful music studio teaching piano and string students in the North Texas area. Troy has been teaching music (not just bass!) since 2013, and his students have regularly won awards, participated in region and state orchestra programs, high-level youth orchestras in the area, and several have gone on to receive scholarships and study music in college.

"One always holds one's breath for the third movement's double bass solo...Hats off, then, to Troy Tippawang, who played it flawlessly." 

-Scott Cantrell, Dallas Morning News (referring to Mahler's 1st)

Aidan Yonley began taking piano lessons in kindergarten, studying for five months with his first teacher before continuing on his own until returning last fall to study with Mrs. Yi.  Earlier this year, he performed for the first time at the Sonatina Festival in Plano, Texas. In addition to music, Aidan has played in a soccer team since age three, loves painting, and can spend hours designing marble tracks or collecting treasures from nature on his bike rides. He thinks math is fun and earned an honorable mention in the Noetic Math contest this year. HIs favorite book series is "Harry Potter," his favorite movie series is "The Lord of the Rings," and in the summer he loves diving with his dad at the beach.

KLASSIEK IN DE KRACHTCENTRALE

In collaboration with Tendens and Stretto Piano Festival.

In the second concert in the series, pianist Isabel Gabbe performs Schubert, Mozart, and a kaleidoscope of preludes from various composers on the Tendens piano with narrow keys.

PROGRAM

W.A.Mozart 12 Variations on „Ah vous dirai-je maman“ KV265/300e

Franz Schubert (1797-1828) Drei Klavierstücke D946

Nr. 1 es-Moll. Allegro assai
Nr. 2 Es-Dur. Allegretto
Nr. 3 C-Dur Allegro

Caleidoscope of Préludes:

Francisco Mignone (1897-1986) Prelude

Clarisse Leite (1917-2003) Prelude

Savino de Benedictis (1883-1971) Prelude

Adelaide Pereira da Silva (1928-2021) Prelude

Camargo Guarnieri (1907-1993) Dansa negra

Edouardo Escalante *(1937) Prelude

Lili Boulanger (1893-1918) Prelude in Ré bémol majeur

Claude Debussy (1862-1918) from Estampes: Soirée dans Grenade

About the pianist:

Isabel Gabbe believes that to communicate through music removes all hindrances to communication. A pianist and music teacher of German and French descent, she performs as a soloist, chamber musician, and song accompanist, appearing at venues such as the Berlin Philharmonie, Konzerthaus, Glocke Bremen, Theatro Guaira in Brazil, and Philharmonie Cologne.

In 2016, she was appointed Professor of Piano and Piano Didactics at the Mozarteum University of Salzburg, and since 2018 has directed the Department of Music Pedagogy in Innsbruck. In 2022, she became a certified music physiology trainer (CAS MP). Isabel gives masterclasses across Europe and Brazil and has worked with the Klavierfestival Ruhr, developing its children’s teaching section. She has taught in music schools and universities in Berlin, Düsseldorf, and Essen.

Isabel founded the “Moments Musicaux de la baie du Mont Saint Michel” chamber music festival in France, managing it from 2005–2017 and promoting both emerging artists and lesser-known works. She has won numerous national and international prizes as a soloist and chamber musician, including competitions in Bremen, Barcelona, Caltanissetta, and from the German Music Council. She has performed widely in Europe, Brazil, and the U.S., and frequently on radio and television.

Her discography includes a 2006 debut CD featuring Debussy, Ravel, Bach, and Albeniz; a 2013 contemporary CD with composer John Patrick Thomas and soprano Julia Henning; Rossini’s Petite Messe Solenelle (2014) with the Kettwiger Bach Choir; and Weihnachtsmann, mach Du das mal! (2015) with Kaleidos Musikeditionen. She has also published articles in Schott Üben & Musizieren and Waxman Klavierpraxis.

Kaduk Tendens

Tendens is a new member of the piano family — a supreme, portable concert instrument that surpasses the grand piano in playability, tone, and freedom. Its active soundboard gives a singing, open sound with unsurpassed clarity in any space, while its ultra-responsive action reveals every nuance of the pianist’s touch. Because it can travel, pianists can finally build a lasting personal connection with their own instrument — even with custom dimensions for comfort and health. For the first time, a concert instrument combines world-class quality with portability, opening the door to new artistic freedom and new listening experiences. 

More about Tendens: https://www.tendens.live/

What is a Stretto Piano?

Stretto means narrow in Italian.

Pianos with various key widths have existed since keyboard instruments were first invented centuries ago. In the mid-to-late 19th century, however, cast iron piano frames were invented in order to keep up with the demands of larger performance halls. This innovation caused a significant increase of the octave span. Famous male, large-handed virtuosos, like Franz Liszt, started touring at this time and played the bigger instruments with ease. Prominent manufacturers standardized these powerful pianos of the late nineteenth century, mass-producing the conventional size we have today.

Since then, pianists with smaller hands have found this conventional size challenging to play, and have even experienced playing-related injuries in many cases. Many artists realized that one size does not fit all, especially for repertoire written by composers who had or have large hands.

More about Stretto Piano Festival: https://www.strettopianoconcerts.org/

Celebrating Athena with the kids and all small-handed pianists!

We’re delighted to share and celebrate the groundbreaking Athena 5.5-inch octave electronic keyboard by offering free piano lessons to small-handed people at New York City’s Pier 57.

10 AM - 2 PM in the Oyster Classroom

2.30 PM - 6 PM in the Daffodil and Seahorse Classrooms

Overlooking the Hudson River with gorgeous views, high ceilings, and a vibe that makes you lose track of time, the location can’t be beat for relaxation and leisure.

There’s a great food court in the same building, and NYC’s beautiful Little Island next door for a scenic autumn walk and views of inter-borough bridges and the Statue of Liberty, weather-permitting.

If you want to make an appointment for a 30-minute, 45-minute or 60-minute lesson, email us at info.strettopianofestival@gmail.com

Or just walk in and you’re welcome to sit at the piano to learn scales, chords, and a piece or two, depending on your level.

Rank beginners welcome.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

This recorded presentation at the Global Health Summit in July 2025 saw Eri Yoshimura perform on a Yamaha C7X with DS5.5 keyboard.

BIO

Eri Yoshimura, born in Osaka, Japan, earned a music education degree from Shinshu University before moving to Denton, Texas. There, she obtained Master’s and Doctorate of Musical Arts degrees in piano performance from the University of North Texas under Dr. Pamela Mia Paul with a related field in Music and Medicine under Dr. Kris Chesky. Dr. Yoshimura has performed solo, chamber and four-hands recitals in USA (including Hawaii), Japan, Mexico, and Hungary (Franz Liszt International Festival). She and Hungarian pianist, Emöke Ujj, released their first album together, “Contemporary Piano Music for Four Hands”, which contains the works by four living composers. All compositions in this album were specifically composed for Emöke and Eri.

Dr. Yoshimura’s scholarly research has focused on understanding and preventing piano-related medical problems. Her research papers were published in the Medical Problems of Performing Artists journal 2006 and 2008 and in the MTNA E-journal 2009. Her dissertation focused on the possible application of an ergonomically modified keyboard (a narrower-sized keyboard) for reducing piano-related pain among small-handed pianists. In April 2006, she performed on the 15/16-sized keyboard in one of her doctoral degree recitals; this performance marked this keyboard’s concert premiere. She has presented her research in conferences at Aspen (PAMA), Chicago (NCKP), Serbia (EPTA) and England (RNCM). As a doctoral student at UNT, she won outstanding researcher scholarships for her work in music & medicine and was featured on the university homepage, magazines, and regional TV news reports and radio. She is currently using the 7/8-sized keyboard to teach her students at the Gray School in Dallas.

PROGRAM

F. Chopin Waltz in Ab Major Opus 34 No.1 Valse Brillante
F. Schubert Impromptu in Bb Major Opus 142 No. 3
S. Prokofiev Piano Sonata No.1 in F minor Opus 1

BIO

Originally from Niigata Prefecture, Japan, Sahoko Otsuka began playing piano at the age of three and studying ballet at five. At 18, she entered the Faculty (School) of Medicine, where she also formed a piano trio with a classmate and performed at concert halls, hospitals, and other venues. She now works as a physician while continuing to enjoy music as a hobby, and is a member of the Narrow Key Piano Society. Welcome her for her festival debut on the KAWAI RX2 grand with 6.0-inch octave keyboard.

Doors 16:30 - Show commences at 17:00

Square Music
Square Music is a London-based Piano Quartet that performed with us both at the Leeds International Piano Competition in 2024 and earlier this year. We are so excited to welcome them back to Pianodrome Granton in Edinburgh.

The Fifth Annual International Stretto Piano Festival
The Pianodrome in Granton, as you may not know, has two playable "stretto,” or narrow-key, pianos installed into the structure. These are pianos with narrower keys that have been donated to us by the global Stretto piano advocates, 'PASK' (Pianists for Alternatively Sized Keyboards), who campaign for pianos with narrower keys to be made widely available to increase the piano's accessibility to those with smaller hands. We are thrilled to welcome the excellent pianists of the Square Music quartet to show off these pianos in our piano amphitheatre as part of this year's Fifth Annual International Stretto Piano Festival.

Venue Info

The Granton Pianodrome is a DIY grassroots venue set in a warehouse on an Industrial estate shared with some van rental companies and used car sales. Ours is the most colourful unit at the end: You'll see a grand piano on top of a shipping container!

Toilets: please note that we simply have one compost toilet at this venue (made out of pianos) which may not be accessible for some guests. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience and assure you that we are doing our best to remedy this issue.

SIRIUS 6.0 Concert with Athina Bardakou, Cornelia Felber, Simona Stefano, Yu Tashiro, Dani Zhogovska und Arthur Adams-Close (Bariton)

Works by J. S. Bach, Frédéric Chopin, Johannes Brahms, Richard Strauss und Dora Pejačević

You can find the detailed programm here: https://www.hmdk-stuttgart.de/veranstaltung/sirius-60-konzert

Artistic direction: Silvia Molan & Prof.in Ulrike Wohlwender
SIRIUS 6.0 Future Initiative of the HMDK Stuttgart: https://www.hmdk-stuttgart.de/sirius-60

You can find the detailed programm here: https://www.hmdk-stuttgart.de/veranstaltung/sirius-60-konzert

In partnership with Stretto Piano Concerts, Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, in the Dallas, Texas, will present their students performing on its Stretto piano, with a DS6.0 Keyboard.

Evolved in 1976, the premise of the school came from a realization that gifted young artists need highly specialized and rigorous training in the arts to be prepared for the intense competition they will meet in colleges, conservatories, and the professional arts world.

In partnership with Stretto Piano Events and stretto piano pioneer Dr. Carol Leone,

Dr. Catharine Lysinger will present a special concert featuring students of the Meadows School of Arts.

PROGRAM

Jie Zhou

 Preludes, Op. 11, Nos. 11 and 14  -  Scriabin

Claudia Shumeng Wang

Étude de concert, S. 144, No. 2 La leggierezza  - Liszt

Kamilya Akhmetova 

32 Variations on an Original Theme in C minor, WoO 80 - Beethoven

Olivia Chien-Jou Wang

Partita No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 826 – Bach

Jie Zhou, born in Chengdu, China, began piano studies at age four. She went to Utah State University for her undergraduate degree in piano, where she taught young students and assisted in music classes. Jie is now a first-year graduate student in Piano Performance and Pedagogy at Southern Methodist University. When she’s not at the piano, you’ll probably find her hunting down the spiciest food in town or happily sipping on bubble tea.

Claudia Wang graduated from Southern Methodist University with a B.M. in Piano Performance, where she studied with Dr. Carol Leone. and is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy, studying with Dr. Cathy Lysinger. She has been performing on the alternate-sized keyboard for over four years, which has greatly enhanced her playing and teaching. With six years of teaching experience, Claudia teaches both private and group piano lessons to students ranging from age five through adult. In additional to teaching, she has performed in solo and chamber settings, exploring a wide range of repertoire across musical styles. 

Kamilya Akhmetova began piano studies at the age of seven in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan, and later continued at the Republican Kazakh Specialized Music School named after Akhmet Zhubanov in Almaty. At eighteen, she debuted with the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

She graduated with honors from the Kazakh National University of Arts, where she studied piano with Professor Sara Assabayeva and organ with Assistant Professor Saltanat Abilkhanova. Her international training includes the 5th European Organ Academy in Leipzig and a semester at the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory in Venice, Italy.

Kamilya has been recognized with Diplomas at the III Siberian International Chopin Piano Competition (2016), the XX Open Festival-Competition of Organ Music (2019), and the Baikal Toccata International Competition (2019), all in Russia.

She completed both a Master’s degree and Performer’s Diploma in Organ Performance at Southern Methodist University (Dallas, USA) with Stefan Engels and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Piano Performance and Pedagogy with Andrey Ponochevny.

Olivia Chien-Jou Wang was born in 2003 in Hsinchu, Taiwan. She graduated from the music program at Chien-Hwa Junior High School and completed the 7-Year Integrated Music Program at the National Tainan University of the Arts. In 2021, she was awarded a full scholarship to study at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, National University of Singapore, under Professor Albert Tiu, and graduated in 2025.

Chien-Jou has received numerous accolades, including first prize in the Taiwan selection round of the Japanese Classical Music Competition and third prize in the national finals held in Japan (where the first and second prizes were not awarded). She was invited to perform the third movement of Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 25 with a local orchestra in Japan. In 2023, she was selected as a performance laureate in the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concerto Competition, which led to her performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 18 with orchestra in March 2024. That same year, she received full tuition support from her chamber music lecturer to attend the “Music Chair” Chamber Music Festival in Canada, where she performed Smetana’s Piano Trio in G Minor, Op. 15 with her trio partners.

Beyond classical music, Chien-Jou is also skilled in pop and Christian music improvisation. She arranged and recorded the graduation song for her junior high school and was invited in both 2023 and 2024 by the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory to sing and play piano at the Senior Graduation Party Showcase.

She has studied with distinguished artists such as John Perry, Pascal Rogé, Boris Slutsky, Andreas Fröhlich, Christopher Hinterhuber, Alexander Schimpf, Armen Babakhanian, Anna Geniushene, Kathryn Stott, Yoshikazu Nagai, Marina Lomazov, Sara Tal, Victoria Mushkatkol, and Myong-Joo Lee.

Currently, Chien-Jou is pursuing her Master’s degree at the Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University, under the guidance of Professors Carol Leone and Sara Daneshpour.

Erica Booker’s students Amy Huang and Samantha Stephens join for their Stretto Festival debut!

PROGRAM

Amy Huang

Frederic Chopin: Ballade No. 3 in Ab Major Opus 47

Claude Debussy: Reflets dans l’eau

DS 5.5-inch octave grand piano

Samantha Stephens

J S Bach- Partita No 1 in Bb, BWV 825

Praeludium

Allemande

Corrente

Sarabande

Menuet I

Menuet II

Gigue

Kawai GM12 with 6.0 keyboard

Amy Huang is 14 years old and is currently in year 9 at Ravenswood School for Girls. She began her musical journey at age five, when she started learning piano with her Suzuki teacher Christine Collins. After Mrs Collin’s retirement, Amy continued to learn with Erica Booker and achieved her AMusA diploma in 2023. As well as playing piano, Amy also enjoys playing violin, and received her AMusA diploma for violin this year. Amy represents her school in various performances and Eisteddfods and is a member of the school’s symphony orchestra, string ensemble and quartet. In addition to her musical interests, Amy also enjoys swimming, baking and cadets.

Samantha Stephens is 17 years old and is in year 11 at Mount St Benedict College. Samantha began her musical journey at the age of two, attending Suzuki Early Childhood Music classes with Erica Booker. She started learning the piano, Suzuki method under the patient guidance of Gabrielle Donovan. Through Gabrielle’s teaching, Samantha developed a strong foundation in music, with a focus on listening, musical expression, discipline and most of all the love of music. Samantha remembers Gabrielle fondly as the teacher who taught her to play from the heart.

In 2023, Samantha began piano lessons with Erica Booker, who has played a pivotal role in developing her confidence, helping her refine her technique, deepen her understanding of music and develop her musical artistry. In 2024, she completed Suzuki level 9. In addition, to preparing for the Suzuki level 9 graduation, she was busy with the school musical “Charlie and The Chocolate Factory” as the second pianist in the school musical orchestra.

Besides playing the piano, Samantha picked up the flute at primary school, playing in the school band, and completing the Grade 4 flute exams with honours. Early last year, Samantha began learning to play the violin recreationally, learning from Rhordan Stephens.

Samantha is currently working on Music 2 and will be playing piano for her High School Certificate next year. Between practice and studies, she enjoys playing netball, playing with her dog, and catching up with her friends.

Noriko Utsugi is a member of the Japan Narrow Key Piano Society, and is performing on a DS6.0 and ⅞ keyboards made for a Blüthner grand piano located in Piano Plaza Gunma, Takasaki City, Japan. She is a professional ophthalmologist and an accomplished amateur pianist.

PROGRAM

Works by Frederic Chopin

4 Mazurkas Op.33
     No.1 G# minor
     No.2 C major
     No.3 D major
     No.4 B minor

Polonaise Op.53  A♭ major  “Heroic “

KLASSIEK IN DE KRACHTCENTRALE

In collaboration with Tendens and Stretto Piano Festival.

On the first evening in the series, pianist Katie Yao Morgan performs Schubert, Schumann, Scriabin, Glinka on the Tendens piano with narrow keys.

Enjoy the Stretto Piano Events premiere of concerts from the Netherlands on a Tendens 7/8 digital grand!

PROGRAM

F. Schubert - 6 Moments Musicaux D 780 Opus 94 No. 1, 2, 3, 4

R. Schumann - Op. 4 Intermezzi No. 2 and No. 3

A. Scriabin - Poeme Nocturne Op. 61

M. Glinka - Nocturne in Eb Major

K. Yao Morgan - Butterfly Lovers

K. Yao Morgan - Market Havoc

BIO

Katie Yao Morgan (2000), of British and Chinese descent, began piano studies at age four. She attended the Yehudi Menuhin School, where she studied with Marcel Baudet and later studied at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with Frank Peters, completing her Bachelor’s in Classical Piano (2022) and Master’s in Repetiteurship (2024). Her Master Research, ‘The Discriminatory Instrument’, outlines the limitations of the standardised piano keyboard and advocates for pianos with narrower keys was awarded the Frans Schreuderprijs for best Master’s Research across all conservatories in the Netherlands. Subsequently, her research was published in the EPTA Bulletin. 

Katie has won numerous prizes, including 1st prize at the Amsterdam Regional finals of the Princess Christina Concours (2019) and the Grachtenfestival Conservatorium Concours (2024) with pianist Jorian van Nee. She has appeared at Het Concertgebouw, Wigmore Hall, and Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ, and performed concertos by Mozart, Chopin, Schumann, and Ravel with orchestras across Europe.

As a chamber musician, she has played with Trio Pantoum (winners of the Intercollegiate Piano Trio Society Competition, 2018) and appeared on Dutch national TV show Podium Witteman multiple times. In 2025 her debut album “Echoes of the Orient” was released on Naxos World, featuring her own compositions inspired by the Chinese heritage.

Alongside her music career, Katie completed a BSc in Psychology (UvA, 2024) and an MSc in Crime and Forensic Science (UCL, 2025).

Kaduk Tendens

Tendens is a new member of the piano family — a supreme, portable concert instrument that surpasses the grand piano in playability, tone, and freedom. Its active soundboard gives a singing, open sound with unsurpassed clarity in any space, while its ultra-responsive action reveals every nuance of the pianist’s touch. Because it can travel, pianists can finally build a lasting personal connection with their own instrument — even with custom dimensions for comfort and health. For the first time, a concert instrument combines world-class quality with portability, opening the door to new artistic freedom and new listening experiences. 

More about Tendens: https://www.tendens.live/

What is a Stretto Piano?

Stretto means narrow in Italian.

Pianos with various key widths have existed since keyboard instruments were first invented centuries ago. In the mid-to-late 19th century, however, cast iron piano frames were invented in order to keep up with the demands of larger performance halls. This innovation caused a significant increase of the octave span. Famous male, large-handed virtuosos, like Franz Liszt, started touring at this time and played the bigger instruments with ease. Prominent manufacturers standardized these powerful pianos of the late nineteenth century, mass-producing the conventional size we have today.

Since then, pianists with smaller hands have found this conventional size challenging to play, and have even experienced playing-related injuries in many cases. Many artists realized that one size does not fit all, especially for repertoire written by composers who had or have large hands.

Pianist and educator Taeko Hirata joins the Festival in Kyoto, Japan!

Program:

Prokofiev: Four Pieces, Op. 4 – No. 4 “Suggestion Diabolique”

Chopin: Fantasy-Impromptu in C-sharp minor, Op. 66 (Polish National Edition, Ekier Urtext)

Liszt: Liebesträume

BIO

Taeko Hirata is a piano teacher based in Kyoto, Japan.

The pianos she owns are a standard-size Kawai and a DIAPASON 170E with keys slightly larger than 6.0 inches—approximately 6.1 inches.

We are thrilled to have Linda Gould, a pioneer of stretto pianos, pianist, and entrepreneur join us with a video concert featuring her adventurous programming and performing, her sister, Susan, her troupe of Jazz pros, and stretto festival pianist Eliana Yi who performed at Linda’s live concert with her in 2024.

Program

Linda Gould

March Past from the Canadiana Suite by Oscar Peterson

Eliana Yi

Suicide in an Airplane by Leo Ornstein

Linda and Susan Gould

Innamorata by PDQ Bach

Concerto in Jazz by Donald Phillips

Linda Gould

March Past from Oscar Peterson's Canadiana Suite

with Bob Brown on drums, Don Cox on bass, Dave Paulson on the big keys, and Linda Gould on Narrow Keys

Linda Gould is a performer, music educator, and advocate for narrow key pianos. She serves as the CEO of Narrow Key Pianos, where she recently led the development of Athena, a narrow key digital piano featuring a 5.5-inch octave. Under her direction, Narrow Key Pianos has distributed over 300 instruments worldwide in 2025, nearly tripling the number of narrow key pianos available to performers and educators.

More information about Athena can be found at narrowkeypianos.com

Please see Eliana Yi’s festival page where her concert will be linked to read her bio.

Notes about the program from Linda:

1. Eliana Yi playing Suicide in an Airplane at our music room last year.  She explains it and plays it beautifully on my Yamaha fitted with D.S. 5.5 keys. 

2. Linda and Susan Gould playing Innamorata by PDQ Bach.  A tongue-in-cheek performance of the first movement of this work.  Innamorata was a duet that PDQ Bach wrote to get close to a girl he wanted to get to know better.  Lots of arm crossing, etc.  Sue and I play it on two pianos in the fashion of two sisters poking at each other musically.  Sue is on a Yamaha concert grand with regular or BIG keys, as I now call them, and I am on my Yamaha grand with D.S. 5.5 keys. We also have a bit of preamble in the video. 

3. Linda and Susan Gould on the same two pianos (Susan has a reach of a 10th on regular keys) playing Concerto in Jazz by Donald Phillips.  a delightful, little-known American piece written for Piano and Concert band.  Sue plays the orchestra part on her piano.  There is a preamble story to this piece, too.  How I was passed over by the band in high school because my hands were too small to play the piece.  Five years later, my large-handed sister got to play it with the high school band.  I was envious!  Now, finally, I get to play it too!

4. Linda Gould playing March Past from Oscar Peterson's Canadiana Suite. Performed at our Canada Day party this year.  Linda plays the Athena 5.5 digital piano with Bob Brown on drums, Don Cox on bass, and Dave Paulson on the Big keys.  

David Soo and his students, Tyler Zhou, Alexander Cui, and Nicholas Jiang, and Isaac Shi, delight us from Australia!

PROGRAM

Alexander Cui

'Andante' from Sonata in C, K545 by Mozart

Toccata by Bacewicz

Isaac Shi

Creole Dance by Ginastera

Nicholas Jiang

Rondo in C major by Beethoven

October by Tchaikovsky

Tyler Zhou

Grande Waltz Brillante in E-flat major by Chopin

Souvenir d’Andalouisie by Gottschalk

Paganini Variations by Berkovitch

David Soo

Automne, by Chaminade

Notturno by De Falla

BIO

David Soo is an Australian concert pianist who has performed extensively throughout Australia, Asia, and in Europe as a solo recitalist, chamber musician, and concerto soloist. David has had the privilege of performing before several distinguished dignitaries such as the late Her Majesty the Queen, the Mayor of the City of London Corporation, and the Honourable Alexander Downer AC, and the Honourable George Brandis QC as High Commissioners to the United Kingdom. David has performed in significant concert halls and venues including Australia House, the Barbican Concert Hall, St-Martins-in-the Field, the Old Bailey, Goodenough College, Haikou Town Hall, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, the Melbourne Recital Centre, and the ABC Studios in Adelaide and Melbourne. David has also performed sold-out recitals at the Bloomsbury and Chobham Festivals, and his performances can be heard on ABC Classic FM, New Zealand Classic FM, Fine Music Australia Network stations, and FMITE Spanish Radio. David studied piano with Glenn Riddle and Joan Havill. David has recently completed his PhD at the University of Melbourne.