World Piano Day 2023 – Worldwide Piano Pride

It is March 29, 2023, International Piano Day and we are dedicating our day to those who love to “tickle the ivories”. Celebrations include everything piano and keyboard related, whether it’s live concerts, demonstrations, lessons, public pianos and much more. The community is huge, it’s worth it. More about this below! 🎹

World Piano Day – the 7 ¼ octave date

Initiated and brought to life in 2015 by the German composer, performer and producer Nils Frahm and a group of like-minded people, World Piano Day has taken place on the 88th day of the year ever since. The special date refers to the number of keys on a piano and the pitch range of 7 ¼ octaves. Usually this is March 29th; in leap years, the date moves to March 28th.

It doesn’t hurt to celebrate

The idea is original, the reason given by the initiator as to why there should be World Piano Day seems surprisingly short and to the point. Nils Frahm: “(…) For many reasons. But above all because it doesn’t hurt to celebrate the piano and everything that comes with it: performers, composers, piano builders, tuners, piano shipping companies and above all the listeners.” The piano is one of the most popular instruments par excellence. With World Piano Day, it should get an additional boost.

 🎹 Check out the piano videos on our “Thomann Music” YouTube channel 👈

World Piano Day – Event for basically all piano enthusiasts

The aim of World Piano Day is to put the importance of the piano in the public eye and to attract media attention. A wide variety of piano projects are being rolled out worldwide, with the emphasis on the comprehensive and global approach for all piano friends, from ambitious beginners to seasoned amateurs to keyboard professionals. Piano concerts and various other themed events take place in numerous cities under the banner of World Piano Day.

Connecting diversity across the continents

The list of events taking place under the common motto is very long and no less international. The venues range from Berlin with Rubin Henkel, Sofi Paez & Yana to Austin in the USA with the Austin Chamber Ensemble to Kyoto in Japan, such as Yoko Komatsu ft. Daigo Hanada. Alexandra Hamilton-Ayres and Simeon Walker have been announced for World Piano Day in Bristol, UK, while piano arrangements by Sophie Hutchings, Evelyn Ida Morris and Grace Ferguson will be performed in Melbourne, Australia. Concerts with Paula Präktig and Teemu Halmkrona have been announced from the Finnish capital. There are numerous others. One could almost call it a global piano grand prix without an award ceremony.

@thomann.music HAPPY WORLD PIANO DAY EVERYONE 🎹 Did you recognize all of the tunes? 🌟 #thomann #worldpianoday #musicmeme #pianist #piano ♬ Originalton – Thomann

Share content with the entire piano community

The organizers don’t only hold their Piano Day Celebrations in the circle of their friends. Rather, the participants are invited to share their photos, stories, poems – everything inspired by the piano – with the entire, worldwide, community. An official companion album will also be released, featuring exclusive, previously unreleased tracks composed to celebrate the instrument’s magic and versatility.

The Extraordinary History of the Piano

Due to its own history as well as the complexity of the construction, the piano undoubtedly deserves to be appropriately honored with a World Piano Day. The history now spans a period of more than 700 years, with the first records of key-operated stringed instruments going back as far as the 14th century. The first relatives such as harpsichords, spinets or clavichords were completely different from a technical point of view; but they laid the foundation for today’s upright and grand piano, which consists of around 12,000 individual parts, around 10,000 of which are movable. That’s truly amazing and remarkable! Apart from piano builders and piano tuners, not many people think about the complex construction that necessary for such wonderful-sounding music.

Incomparably formative for Western Music

The hammer-action piano was invented in 1709 by Bartolomeo Cristofori at the Medici court in Florence. With the grand piano mechanism, it was suddenly possible to influence the volume and dynamics in a nuanced way. Suddenly there was more to do than “sound on” and “sound off”. Today, around 500,000 pianos are manufactured every year. Logically, you don’t buy a piano every day because of its dimensions. The number of instruments manufactured, bought and played on a regular basis is all the more impressive. In fact, the piano in its various constructions is one of the most influential of the Western instruments par excellence. There was no acoustic keyboard instrument before or after.

The seed has been sown, now, let the celebrations begin! What are you doing for World Piano Day? Feel free to write us your inspiring plans in the comments!

Joe has been singing since he can remember and started playing guitar when he was 10. He's been using it as a songwriting tool ever since. He is passionate about melody and harmony and admires musicians who create these in unique ways. Check out his alternative / indie projects Best of Feelings and Zef Raček.

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