Launched in 2015, the World Piano Day is a worldwide celebration of the piano, which takes place on the 88th day of the year because of the number of keys in the instrument. Events marking World Piano Day, which is celebrated this year on Sunday, March 29, are scheduled in several Polish cities.
Poland's National Chopin Institute invites music lovers of all ages for a day-long programme of attractions at Chopin’s birthplace of Żelazowa Wola, some 50 km west of Warsaw. It comprises mini-recitals, a selection of short films dedicated to the piano, its history, construction, and its expressive possibilities, demonstrations of prepared piano techniques, and a session illustrating the evolution of piano sound across centuries featuring an Érard instrument from 1838 and a modern Steinway & Sons.
A lecture is planned as well, devoted to the legendary Polish-born virtuoso Artur Rubinstein.
The World Piano Day at Żelazowa Wola also includes a wide-range of events for young people, such as an educational concert exploring contemporary piano music and the techniques of prepared piano, workshops in creating graphic scores, as well as outdoor games.
The day will culminate in an evening concert for two pianos, featuring virtuosic French repertoire of the 19th and 20th centuries.
The National Chopin Institute writes on its website that “the event is designed for a broad audience - musicians, amateurs, families, groups of friends, and all those wishing to experience the unique character of the piano in a place where history meets the present day”.
World Piano Day events are also in the mid-western city of Poznań, with recitals featuring all kinds of piano music held across the city. “It is a day when the whole town becomes a concert stage and the piano a common language for all” - write the organizers.
The Poznań fare includes a panel on the role of piano competitions in contemporary musical culture, with Dina Yoffe, second prize winner at the Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 1975, and Leonora Armellini, fifth prize winner in the same event in 2021, among the speakers.
World Piano Day is also to be celebrated in the Polish cities of Szczecin and Wrocław, among others.
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