PIANISTS FOR ALTERNATIVELY SIZED KEYBOARDS

Article in Ritmico, Journal of Institute of Registered Music Teachers of New Zealand: ‘Does one size fit all? Pianists with narrow hand-spans take heart!’ by Rhonda Boyle, Journal 117, October 2024.

Podcast by Prof Carol Leone, Southern Methodist University: ‘Narrower keys: A game changer for pianists’. Tonebase October 2024. https://www.tonebase.co/piano

Article in Piano magazine, Autumn 2024: ‘How an alternatively sized keyboard transformed my artistry and life as a musician and teacher’. https://pianoinspires.com/magazine/

Article in International Piano/Gramophone magazine, Autumn 2024: ‘The real reason men dominate major piano competitions.’ https://paskpiano.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/The-real-reason-men-dominate-major-piano-competitions-_-Gramophone.pdf

Article from the College of Music at University of Colorado Boulder about their DS6.0 keyboard and importance for reducing pain and injury risk. https://www.colorado.edu/music/2024/09/10/alternative-keyboard-offers-college-music-students-greater-reach?fbclid=IwY2xjawFnCyFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHUiK2f43wtmzMSEw1kED-1Z6K1kySHLW4032khTAp_S7H2XcQCPUaOFoyA_aem_Oy7t0qd-P396fVtOE3szxQ

Story in musikmachen.de in Germany: ‘Narrower piano keys make hands grow’, July 2024: https://www.musikmachen.de/orchester/schmalere-klaviertasten/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0jLllV-MRDcevwBsv_7lTL4WBZ38LencYYZCFRrC5H1at62_IUIeZ3hHk_aem_27yPhGf_tj8Js6vVrwnWOQ

Article in Friends of the Sydney International Piano Competition newsletter, Winter 2024. https://paskpiano.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/SIPC-Words-and-Music-Winter-2024-Newsletter.pdf

Story about research at the Universite de Montreal in 2024: https://nouvelles.umontreal.ca/article/2024/04/30/un-piano-pour-petites-mains-a-l-udem/?utm_source=UdeMNouvelles&utm_campaign=fd60d55bb5-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_Quotidienne_2024_05_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-fea04458e5-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D

Interview with Hannah Reimann, creator of Stretto Piano Concerts and the International Stretto Piano festival with NPR Classical: https://www.npr.org/2024/05/23/nx-s1-4937937/pianist-seeks-equity-with-narrower-instruments?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR19SmaNo-G3IdR4PK-jhoEjIVjs-8yPQokPCC0hv4ChfkZ7EsXV4ASa_94_aem_ARcDnI4VxHZhGNvlFQ5bs3WfQNZpobW2le7LcuuMhdpxLYpgUn_tTSAnrd5Vgfk_uglLO2YEemE_0SLLjnK_IrZ0

A moving story about a pianist’s experience playing a DS5.5® keyboard at Shenandoah University, published in Piano Buyer magazine: https://www.pianobuyer.com/post/alternatively-sized-keyboards-a-university-experience

Another article in German news media in November 2023: https://uebenundmusizieren.de/artikel/sirius-6-0-ein-fluegel-der-haende-wachsen-laesst/?fbclid=IwAR2WTn7PMD2hMdPWnRXfPI2ALR-fGfHnhjM7Sh3TyQe_uJFzHigtkPtr8rw

An article from SWR News in southern Germany in August 2023: https://www.swr.de/swr2/musik-klassik/instrumente-mit-anderer-mensur-der-sirius-fluegel-100.html?fbclid=IwAR2iBqRZ3YzuyO88W9OeMejaOIoiO1HhudyBdfrHq3E7Hmozp5qx1ddTrdY_aem_AQCH-YDMLHwryUjgypbyBt6ndgPtTWIRL-pNB7w7RTk4E8Inqjdc-mrR16UHYkOg0Cg

Sirius 6.0 in HMDK Stuttgart was discussed in this radio program in August 2023: https://www.ndr.de/kultur/musik/Klavier-Sirius-60-Der-Fluegel-mit-extra-schmaler-Klaviatur,sirius122.html?fbclid=IwAR0J49poggttWOucHL0r8wFdBhCtmh_q3o1xpRwd6smrl-iPyTfojbTC2fY

Various media stories and podcasts associated with the 2023 International Stretto Piano Festival can be accessed via this website: https://www.strettopianoconcerts.org/media

This article appeared in German media company BR Klassik in March 2023 describes the Sirius 6.0 piano with keyboard made by Steingraeber: https://www.br-klassik.de/aktuell/news-kritik/hochschule-fuer-musik-nuernberg-fluegel-fuer-kleine-haende-100.html?fbclid=IwAR2ocgmOXPUaBlh0XTyM8XiLsAfA9ADcfcmlA0oO9u0xCPxsSre8QiK3ICA

An article appeared in the German ‘Piano News’ journal in 2023 about alternatively sized keyboards, with particular reference to initiatives in Germany. https://paskpiano.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Klavierzeitung003_2023.pdf

Podcast called ‘The narrow key piano crusade’ hosted by music educator Tim Topham in December 2022. It features Canadian pianist, teacher and writer Linda Gould and Melbourne based PASK coordinator and researcher Rhonda Boyle. https://topmusic.co/310-the-narrow-key-piano-crusade-with-linda-gould-and-rhonda-boyle/

This video from ‘ValkyRiver’ on YouTube presents an extract from Chopin Etude Opus 25 no 10 (double octaves) rewritten as tenths! The aim is for pianists with larger hands who can manage a 10th (though not with comfort and ease) to experience what the conventional keyboard feels like when smaller handed pianists play extended octave passages! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnzE79-VMtU&t=2s

Podcast called ‘Are Pianos Sexist’ hosted by Caroline Creado Perez on Tortoise, a UK media company in September 2022: https://www.tortoisemedia.com/audio/are-pianos-sexist/

Media From World Piano News, a story about new products at NAMM 2022 including the NK5.5 keyboard, June 2022. https://www.worldpianonews.com/new-product/pianos-at-namm-2022/

Video from Lionel Yu, of Musical Basics, released in February 2022: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=ZXlknI-Jc48&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR2BhXpQQKzSNtbiCx2KQa3rFh9wX-1vbtG29KUl9DFlGD9HDBB1DzmePD8

Blog from Murray McLachlan, British concert pianist, educator, writer and adjudicator, December 2021: https://www.elenacobb.com/pianos-and-discrimination-opening-up-the-hornets-nest-and-calling-for-more-action/

Story published in Australian media, May 2021: https://johnmenadue.com/standard-piano-keys-are-too-wide-for-too-many-but-alternatively-sized-keyboards-are-on-the-way/

See these introductory videos associated with the International Stretto Piano Festival from May 2021: https://info.musae.me/stretto. Note that all performances can be viewed on a pay-to-view basis and are available indefinitely. Links to media articles are here: International Stretto Piano Festival

See the size of Bach’s and Lang Lang’s hands! https://www.facebook.com/LangLangPiano/videos/377185943462318

Read about the new partnership of the DS Standard Foundation with Hailun US Pianos, March 2020. https://www.worldpianonews.com/new-product/acoustic/hailun-pianos-and-ds-keyboards/

Journalist Susan Shelley had this story published in several Californian newspapers on 1 December 2019: https://www.pasadenastarnews.com/2019/11/30/making-the-piano-more-accessible-would-expand-musical-opportunities/?fbclid=IwAR2yGjfFJGxyDk-m-kO6a8MKlDfEil-MOiWJP7sJ4qJxSKjdaFK4EovWSro

Robert Estrin, well-known for his tutorials on LivingPianos.com has released a short video at the NAMM  2019 trade show supporting narrower keyboards: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvQEbiOBOws&t=6s

Austin’s classical radio station, KMFA, interviewed Professor Carol Leone early in 2018. Carol talks about her experience with Steinbuhler keyboards at Southern Methodist University. www.kmfa.org/programs/18-staccato/episodes/2823-small-hands-big-keyboards

Kathryn Mientka’s January 2018 recitals on a DS5.5® in a Yamaha grand piano in Arizona and Colorado are featured in a story in The Daily Sentinel. https://www.gjsentinel.com/entertainment/going-smaller-pianist-uses-new-keyboard-to-conquer-big-handed/article_6bc91776-f18a-11e7-b8b7-10604b9f6eda.html
For details of the concerts, visit: www.junctionconcerts.com/solo_piano_Kathryn_mientka.html

A story in the Dallas Morning News featured Professor Carol Leone and the trailblazing role of Southern Methodist University in relation to alternatively sized piano keyboards. Young pianists with not-so-large hands are flocking there to study on the university’s DS® keyboards. https://www.dallasnews.com/arts/classical-music/2017/12/26/standard-pianos-big-problem-musicians-small-hands-smus-trying-change

Two stories about the recent performance by Monique Fournier in the Lipnicki piano store in Calgary, Canada, on 3 November 2017:
– In the Calgary Herald: http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/first-private-78-piano-set-for-debut-in-calgary
– From CBC Radio: www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/small-piano-hands-adapted-keyboard-calgary-musician-1.4386327

Story by Susan Shelley of the Los Angeles Daily News (12 September 2017): http://www.dailynews.com/2017/09/12/piano-keyboards-for-smaller-hands-could-be-a-work-of-genius-susan-shelley/

For a story in the Wisconsin State Journal about Prof Jess Johnson’s event in February 2016, go to: 
http://host.madison.com/wsj/entertainment/music/a-smaller-piano-for-bigger-artistry/article_38b80090-be0f-5050-9862-32c3c36c6930.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=user-share

American pianist Hugh Sung, owner of the website ‘A Musical Life’, released a podcast about David Steinbuhler and the development of DS keyboards in November 2016. https://amusicallife.com/david-steinbuhler-developer-of-smaller-piano-keyboards/

CBC Radio One in Canada broadcast the story: Right hands, wrong piano: A game-changer for small-handed pianists on 25 October 2016. It covers the early history of DS keyboards and includes illuminating interviews with co-inventors David Steinbuhler and Chris Donison, as well as with Linda Gould, their first customer. You can listen to the podcast here, and view additional information (provided by Kathy Strauch) on more recent developments in relation to alternatively sized keyboards. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Etvj8w-HSGg

For other media stories, go to the Media Stories Playlist on the PASK YouTube channel: 
www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHBn-VaaOCGcfrUsklI1GztxTaaGj5sPhin August 2023