Piano

The Pancake Ballet: Spring, Beethoven and Honoring Grandma

Alysia Reiner | Posted 05.26.2012

Alysia Reiner

Spring has sprung. And with the shift in the weather, the daffodil blossoms, the window box we planted yesterday, comes magical renewed hope. And memories.

S. African Musician Goes Back To School At 60

AP | DONNA BRYSON | Posted 04.17.2012

JOHANNESBURG — The 60-year-old beloved South African musician shows up five days a week to sit behind a scarred desk in a bare-bones classroom, ...

Astoria Characters: The Woman With 101 Candles on Her Cake

Nancy Ruhling | Posted 04.08.2012

Nancy Ruhling

Pull open the drapes! Betty Gelb wants to see the sunshine. She's as excited as a kid going to the circus because she's opened her eyes to another day. She's pushing 102, and, hey, you never know.

Astoria Characters: The On-Beat Brothers

Nancy Ruhling | Posted 02.28.2012

Nancy Ruhling

Enrico de Trizio and Giancarlo de Trizio start jamming to the rhythm of their new-found city. The brothers -- Enrico on the melodica and Giancarlo on the cajón -- have never played to the sky before, but once they start, they don't want to stop.

The Surprising Thing About Playing at the White House

Jade Simmons | Posted 02.20.2012

Jade Simmons

Maybe I was being delusional, or just romantically patriotic, but it seemed to me that artistry was reaching across the aisle quite successfully. Music appreciation abounded, but not a word about which candidate had flubbed the most recent debate.

An "Open Door" Collaboration: India.Arie and Idan Raichel

Modiba | Posted 02.18.2012

Modiba

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From A Nursing Home To A Concert Hall

New York Times | Posted 12.11.2011

For years, the donated piano sat upright and unused in a corner of the nursing home's cafeteria. Now and then someone would wheel or wobble over to po...

Paul's Latest Passion Project

AP | Posted 12.29.2011

DETROIT — During a summer visit to a Motown recording studio, former Beatle Paul McCartney wanted to run his fingers along an 1877 Steinway gran...

WATCH: The Strangest Way To Play Piano

Posted 12.24.2011

Akko Goldenbeld, a graduate student at the Design Academy Eindhoven, has created a realistic model of the city that doubles as a music roll for a play...

Astoria Characters: The Svelte Soprano

Nancy Ruhling | Posted 12.18.2011

Nancy Ruhling

Even when she's not on stage, Jenny, a Valkyrie whose waves of golden ringlets cascade down her shoulders, has quite a stage presence. Runway-model slim, she stands nearly six feet tall in her flat gold sandals.

Astoria Characters: The 95-Year-Old Spring Chicken

Nancy Ruhling | Posted 06.26.2011

Nancy Ruhling

Don't let her age fool you. Henrietta Spilkia looks 75, and she's as vibrant as her hot-pink turtleneck and cherry-red lipstick.

Yanni Talks Truth, Touring, and the Charlie Sheen Torpedo in NYC (VIDEO)

Jon Chattman | Posted 06.15.2011

Jon Chattman

Yanni never imagined he'd ever be a part of a Charlie Sheen sandwich, but that's exactly where he found himself last Saturday night.

WATCH: Amazing Young Chinese Girl Plays Piano With No Fingers On One Hand

Posted 05.25.2011

To play the piano well is a challenge in and of itself. Pianists study diligently for years and consider themselves students even well into illustrio...

Why Can't You Play Music?

Robbie Gennet | Posted 05.25.2011

Robbie Gennet

As I started playing in bands and writing songs, I developed skills at various jams and sessions that had me stumbling onward and upward as a player.

Arts Lust: Jonathan Biss Beats the CRIS

Allan M. Jalon | Posted 05.25.2011

Allan M. Jalon

the poetic lightness with which Biss played, ran in startling contradiction to the gravity I expected. It was like watching someone bend and gently turn over a single leaf in the middle of a storm.

Chua, Baby

Mark Steinberg | Posted 05.25.2011

Mark Steinberg

While my self-esteem couldn't be detected by an atomic microscope, I did regard myself as a sure thing in some future Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog eating contest.

Chinese Tiger Mothers? Kittens Compared to French Mothers. Why Any Fear Model Is the Wrong Way to Go

Dominique Browning | Posted 05.25.2011

Dominique Browning

Let me throw in my nomination for the fiercest kind of mother: the French mother. Here's what the Chinese/Jewish/French superiority models have in common.

Chuck Leavell: This Rolling Stone Gathers Trees

Avital Binshtock | Posted 05.25.2011

Avital Binshtock

Chuck Leavell has been a melodic force behind some of rock 'n' roll's biggest acts. But he is also a committed conservationist and tree farmer.

Beijing Music Festival 2010: China's Future in Performing Arts

Charles Fabius | Posted 05.25.2011

Charles Fabius

Top leaders in the performing arts sat down with Chinese cultural officials, only to find out that China seems to be addressing the issues head-on in a fearless way. At least so it seems, watching Yu Long.

Liu Wei, Armless Pianist, Wins 'China's Got Talent' (VIDEO)

Posted 05.25.2011

SHANGHAI (AP) -- A musician who lost both arms in a childhood accident and plays the piano with his toes has won "China's Got Talent," performing his ...

Astoria Characters: The Man to the Mansion Born

Nancy Ruhling | Posted 05.25.2011

Nancy Ruhling

Michael Halberian wanders through the central hall of the fabled Steinway Mansion and flips the switch that turns on the 1,000-pound crystal chandelier, big and round as the sun. It's motorized.

New Cello-Piano Duo Brings Insights into "Russian Soul"

Alan Elsner | Posted 05.25.2011

Alan Elsner

I'm generally suspicious of national stereotypes but a new CD recording of cello and piano works by Russian composers illuminates and gives life to th...

WATCH: Armless Pianist Plays With His Toes, Wows Audience

Posted 05.25.2011

SHANGHAI — Pianist Liu Wei sits quietly to compose himself before plunging into the music. Then he takes off a sock. The 23-year-old, whose arm...

WATCH: ART IN TECHNOLOGY: Unzipping The DNA Of Music On Your iPad

Posted 05.25.2011

Developed by concert pianist Robert Taub, Improvox is the latest in incredibly advanced ways of experiencing music that have become available via iPad...

Breaking News: Lang Lang Will Stick With Piano

Laurence Vittes | Posted 05.25.2011

Laurence Vittes

Already a legend for his Flight of the Bumblebee on an iPad with the San Francisco Symphony, Lang Lang is announcing the release of Version 2.0 of his best-selling iPad-only app, Magic Piano.