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.