The Mason and Hamlin Prize was a national piano competition, sponsored by Mason and Hamlin. The grand prize was a Mason and Hamlin grand piano. The competition is held annually in Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory, Boston, Massachusetts.
Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway, is a German-American piano company, founded in 1853 in Manhattan by German piano builder Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg. The company's growth led to the opening of a factory in New York City, United States, and later a factory in Hamburg, Germany. The factory in the Queens borough of New York City supplies the Americas and the factory in Hamburg supplies the rest of the world.
Marcel Moyse was a French flautist. Moyse studied at the Paris Conservatory and was a student of Philippe Gaubert, Adolphe Hennebains, and Paul Taffanel; all of whom were flute virtuosos in their time. Moyse played principal flute in various Paris orchestras and appeared widely as a soloist and made many recordings. His trademark tone was clear, flexible, penetrating, and controlled by a fast vibrato. This was a characteristic of the ‘French style’ of flute playing that was to influence the modern standard for flutists worldwide.
Piano construction is by now a rather conservative area; most of the technological advances were made by about 1900, and indeed it is possible that some contemporary piano buyers might actually be suspicious of pianos that are made differently from the older kind. Yet piano manufacturers, especially the smaller ones, are still experimenting with ways to build better pianos.
The International Tchaikovsky Competition is a classical music competition held every four years in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Russia, for pianists, violinists, and cellists between 16 and 32 years of age and singers between 19 and 32 years of age. The competition is named after Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and is an active member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions.
Emil Grigoryevich Gilels was a Soviet pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time.
Edward Elzear "Zez" Confrey was an American composer and performer of novelty piano and jazz music. His most noted works were "Kitten on the Keys" and "Dizzy Fingers." Studying at the Chicago Musical College and becoming enthralled by French impressionists played a critical role in how he composed and performed music.
Mason & Hamlin is a piano manufacturer based in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1854, they also manufactured a large number of pump organs during the 19th century.
Wm. Knabe & Co. was a piano manufacturing company in Baltimore, Maryland from the middle of the nineteenth century through the beginning of the 20th century, and continued as a division of Aeolian-American at East Rochester, New York until 1982. It is currently a line of pianos manufactured by Samick Musical Instruments.
The Walter W. Naumburg Foundation sponsors competitions and provides awards for young classical musicians in North America. It was founded in 1925 by Walter Wehle Naumburg, a wealthy amateur cellist and son of noted New York City music patron and philanthropist Elkan Naumburg. Elkan Naumburg, owner of the eminent Wall Street bank E. Naumburg & Co., founded the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts in 1905. The Concerts were originally performed at the Bandstand on the Concert Ground of New York's Central Park, and starting in 1923 were performed in the Naumburg Bandshell at the same location.
François-René Duchâble is a French pianist. He studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, and at the age of 13 won the institution's first prize in piano. Three years later, he placed 11th at the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in Brussels, and in 1973 he won the Prix de la Fondation Sacha Schneider. At that time, Duchâble caught the attention of Arthur Rubinstein, who encouraged him to pursue a solo career and helped him secure his first important engagements. Since then, Duchâble has had a successful concert career in Europe, the United States, Canada, and Japan.
Sohmer & Co. was a piano manufacturing company founded in New York City in 1872. Sohmer & Co. marketed the first modern baby grand piano, and also manufactured pianos with aliquot stringing and bridge agraffes, as well as Cecilian "all-inside" player pianos and Welte-Mignon-Licensee reproducing pianos. Sohmer pianos were owned by U.S. President Calvin Coolidge, and composers Victor Herbert and Irving Berlin. Sohmer is now a line of pianos manufactured by Samick Music Corporation in Korea.
Mūza Rubackytė is a Lithuanian pianist, currently residing in Vilnius, Paris and Geneva. Rubackytė has been awarded the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas, Lithuanian Muzes, and has been named as the National Artist of Lithuania.
Julius Chaloff was an American pianist and composer. Born of Russian parentage in Boston, Massachusetts, he was the son of Cantor Israel Chaloff, of Congregation Ohabei Shalom, then located in Boston. In 1919, he married a fellow musician, Margaret Stedman. Chaloff was the father of jazz baritone saxophonist Serge Chaloff. Serge gained his earliest prominence as a member of Woody Herman's second herd also known as the Four Brothers. Chaloff was also father of Richard Stedman Chaloff Sr. who founded Stedman Ltd. of Brookline, one of the first custom audio / video installation businesses in the country. Chaloff was married to piano instructor Madame Margaret Chaloff, née Stedman, whose students included Keith Jarrett, Kenny Werner, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Mulgrew Miller, Toshiko Akiyoshi, and Steve Kuhn.
Peng-Peng Gong, formerly known as his stage name Peng Peng, is a Chinese classical composer and pianist born on July 3, 1992. Described by The Washington Post as an artist "with the confidence of a weathered veteran and a welcome unbridled quality to his playing", he has established himself as one of the most gifted young artists of his generation. At 18, he has become an internationally active concert pianist and a six-time American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers National Award-winning composer in consecutive years since 2006. He was among the youngest pianists to be officially signed to the artist roster of the renowned Opus 3 Artists in 2007 at age 14, and the youngest composer to be signed by the [Lauren Keiser Music Publishing] in 2009 at age 16. Since 2005, he concertized and toured intensely in the North America, South America, Europe, and China, appearing in over a hundred solo and orchestral engagements. He was invited twice, on personal request, by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to perform for the United States Congress.
The early Peabody Mason Piano Competitions were organized by Fanny Peabody Mason's longtime friend, pianist Paul Doguereau. The piano competition was inspired by Mason’s commitment to, and aspirations for, the arts and serves to showcase and encourage emerging piano talent. The first competition was held in 1981, with others following in 1984 and 1985. The grand prize winner received a yearly stipend plus a New York and a Boston recital. The competition’s rich heritage, its intermittent nature, and its generous prize have led to a significant reputation and a certain cachet for the award.
Paul René Doguereau was a French pianist and piano teacher. He spent most of his career in Boston, United States, where he was a well-respected cultural figure.
William Albert Beller was an American concert pianist and professor of music at Marquette University and Columbia University. He was deemed a musical prodigy when he was 4 years old. He had also taught piano at the Bronx House Music School in the 1930s.
Marina Yakhlakova is a prizewinning Russian classical pianist. She began learning to play aged 5. After four years of private coaching with Vitaly Mishchenko she continued her professional education at the Gnessin State Musical College for gifted children and later at the Moscow Conservatory. She also completed a post-graduate course at the Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin. In 2011, Yakhlakova became the third person in her direct teaching line to win a competition dedicated to the namesake of Franz Liszt, after her teacher Alexander Strukov and his teacher, Lev Vlassenko. In June 2015, Yakhlakova made it to the first round of the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition but was subsequently eliminated.
The Straube Piano Company (1895–1937) and its successor Straube Pianos Inc. (1937–1949) were American piano manufacturers of uprights, grands, players, and reproducing grands.