Welcome to the
Art of the Piano Festival

Composer Franz Liszt hosted masterclasses in which pianists would gather to watch and listen as Liszt taught one student at a time. It is in that spirit that Awadagin Pratt founded the Art of the Piano annual festival.

It is his vision to recreate an environment where expert-level artists can work to build the profile and artistry of talented, budding players.

This festival is designed to raise your level of music making and piano playing.

I have chosen great artists and pedagogues to help you achieve these goals.

Founded in Cincinnati in 2011, this festival is a platform for you to perfect your recital and competition repertoire, and to have a quiet, beautiful place to apply all that you’re learning at the keyboard. Being an all-masterclass festival, your success depends on your playing and most attentive listening.

Most days will have one or two events – masterclass(es) and/or a recital.

This gives ample opportunity for practice and preparation.

In addition to classes and recitals, there are gatherings with the faculty. A general openness is fostered in an exceptionally supportive environment.

Spots are limited to 20 exceptionally talented pianists 15 and older.**

2025 Festival | June 22 - July 6

San Francisco Conservatory of Music

  • Learn from the world’s top teachers + performers.

  • Perform in masterclasses

  • World-renowned artists in recital

  • Student recitals

  • Talk with faculty at small gatherings

  • Use of excellent Hamburg or New York Steinway for masterclasses

  • Unlimited access to excellent practice facilities

  • Learn about + discuss every facet of beginning your career, whether as performer or pedagogue

Applications for 2025 open in January - join our mailing list to be reminded to apply for our next festival.

FAQs

  • We prefer that all attendees participate in the entire festival.

    However, if you’re only able to attend a portion of the festival – under certain circumstances – exceptions can be made.

    Important: we do not provide housing when you aren’t in attendance at the festival. This means you must either 1. check out of your housing for any days you’re not attending or 2. pay your housing for the days/nights you’re not in attendance. If you’re not sure what this means or how this works, email us.

  • No. Anything else?

    Okay, to be serious: all of the lessons in this festival are open format, so that everyone can benefit. Private lessons aren’t offered.

  • Before the festival starts, we’ll send out a teacher preference survey.

    Prof. Pratt does his best to accommodate everyone’s requests. But obviously if everyone requests the same person, it’s impossible to make that happen. So the assignments are ultimately at Prof. Pratt’s discretion.

  • More on this as we learn about our new location. But very quickly: we do not provide transportation to campus. We will give you info on the best way to get there (once we know).

  • More on this soon.

  • More on this soon.

  • This festival is open to pianists 15 and older. There is no upper age limit.

  • You will need money for:

    -food

    -getting off campus

    -getting to campus/back to the airport

    -parking

    -airfare/getting yourself to San Francisco, however that may be

    Important: we only pay for your housing when you are actively participating/on campus. If you leave campus overnight during the festival (to play a gig, for example), you’ll either need to check out of your housing, or pay for those nights out of your own pocket.

    Check back soon for more updates on additional budgeting needs.

  • We don’t know all the housing details yet, but the answer is likely yes. In general we try for arrangements that give you the most privacy possible (for example, in Cincinnati the housing was suites with private bedrooms and a shared common area and bathroom). We will also try to arrange for roommate requests.

    Check back soon for updates on housing.

  • We’re not sure yet if this is possible. We’ll try our best to accommodate, since our Young Artists come from all over the world. That said, any early or late check-ins/check-outs will need to be paid on your own and aren’t covered by the festival.

    Check back soon for updates on housing.

  • We don’t know yet. As mentioned above, we will strive for participants to have their own rooms and as much privacy as possible.

  • We don’t know yet. Check back soon for updates! :)

  • More on this coming soon. We generally provide a festival handbook with info on how to best get around. As for info on the San Francisco area, there are tons of websites and travel books—more than we could possibly list here :)

  • More info on this coming soon.

  • No, all auditions and applications are online.