Mark your calendars for August 20-22, 2026 and join us in Vienna!
Creativity at the Piano! 2026 is a symposium for teachers, performers, and composers to come together and share innovative approaches to teaching and working at the piano. Whether you are established in your career or just starting out, you’ll come away energized with new ideas for your studio, practice, and creative work!
We welcome submissions covering all styles of music that highlight your approach to creativity at the piano. Session formats include papers, workshops, and performances. Presentations may address any aspect of being at the piano, including composition, improvisation, pedagogical approaches, repertoire selections, theory instruction, historical perspectives and more. Two pianos will be available for performances. Multiple-hand repertoire at one or two pianos is welcome.
Submission guidelines: For presentations and workshops, please submit an abstract of 250-300 words describing your session. Be sure to explain why you think it is relevant to the topic of “Creativity at the Piano.“
For compositions and performances, please submit a link (or links) to your work. Performers should submit a live video performance along with a description of the pieces to be featured at the symposium. Also please indicate if you are willing to perform works submitted by composers at the Symposium. Composers may submit audio files and MIDI recordings are acceptable. Please indicate if you require a performer(s) at the symposium. You may submit multiple links as long as they do not exceed 15 minutes.
Please fill out the form below to propose a session, performance, or composition, or simply to express interest as a participant. Submission deadline is March 1, 2026. Notifications will be sent by April 1, 2026.
The submission process has now closed. Please feel free to email us with any questions at viennasummermusic@gmail.com
Please note the symposium fee of €200 for participants and attendees. (Fee will increase after April 15.) This will include some meals, but travel to and accommodation in Vienna are not included. Payment must be received by August 1 to guarantee your participation.
From past sessions (2024 & 2025)
“This course was so much more than I expected. I was mainly interested in working on performance and that was definitely offered as a focus. But the teacher really made it clear how the improvisation and composition sessions tie everything together. I think I listen to my own playing completely differently now.”
Kathryn Woodard’s description: In this session I introduced the student to a short work by David Gorton, Prelude after D'Anglebert, after realizing she might benefit from its free rhythmic notation and also its more atonal sound. So often we drill beats and subdivisions into students but don't allow them rhythmic freedom while still looking at notation. I noticed her prepared repertoire had a bit of a rigid rhythmic feel, which we addressed in a few ways. The following day I thought this could be an interesting piece to explore. She had already demonstrated a willingness to experiment with different sonorities in our improv sessions, so this piece allowed her to imagine what the composer may have intended with some strident chords and unique rhythms - ‘dance poses’ and ‘raindrops’ in her own words! Her interpretations were going so well that I invited her to offer her own improvisational response. She performed both Gorton’s Prelude and an improvisation at our mid-week recital.
Then later in the week when we were trying out historical instruments at MusikQuartier (harpsichord and Hammerklavier!), I had the same student read a prelude from one of Jean-Henri d’Anglebert’s Suites - the actual inspiration for Gorton’s piece because these preludes are written without meter or barlines in free rhythmic notation.
It really became one of those ‘full circle’ moments: while exploring our own creativity, we were considering new works and those that provided historical context.
General information is available here: Vienna.
We’ve also put together a page to help you explore the sites on your travels: Excursions
Would you like to host a day or week-long workshop? Contact us here!