American Piano Awards Announces Stellar 2025–2026 Season Lineup

 

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Kara Kavensky/American Piano Awards
kara@pianoawards.org

American Piano Awards Announces Stellar 2025–2026 Season Lineup

Indianapolis, IN – [June 2, 2025] – American Piano Awards proudly announces its 2025–2026 season, featuring a compelling blend of solo recitals, chamber collaborations, jazz showcases, and concertos. This season affirms the organization’s commitment to celebrating the artistry of world-class pianists and elevating live performance across genres and generations.

2025–2026 Season Highlights

Zuber & Slutsky | Eric Zuber & Boris Slutsky
Indiana History Center
September 28, 2025, 3:30PM

American Piano Awards laureate Eric Zuber and celebrated pianist Boris Slutsky open the season with a dazzling duo piano performance featuring the works of Sergei Rachmaninoff. The program includes the Piano Suites and the epic Symphonic Dances for two pianos.

Slutsky, a Professor in the Practice of Piano at Yale School of Music and Zuber’s mentor, has been praised by The Baltimore Sun for playing “with intelligence, imagination and a sense of poetry.” Zuber, whose artistry the Cleveland Plain Dealer hailed for its “interpretive finesse and intensity,” joins him in what promises to be a breathtaking evening of virtuosic synergy and lyrical power.

Sean Chen Escher Quartet
Indiana Landmarks Center
November 5, 2025, 7PM

2013 American Piano Awards winner Sean Chen joins forces with the acclaimed New York-based Escher Quartet in a deeply expressive program showcasing chamber music at its finest. LA Music Examiner hailed Sean Chen eas having “…the rare ability to combine poetic musical sensibilities and dazzling technical prowess,” and ArtsFuse said of the Escher String Quartet “…believe the buzz.”

Program:
Ravel ‘Five O’Clock Foxtrot’ from “L’enfant et les Sortile`ges” arr. Henri Gil-Marchex
Rameau Gavotte et six doubles, RCT 5 No. 7
Debussy La plus que lente, L. 121
Dukas-Chen L’Apprenti sorcier
Ravel String Quartet
Franck Piano Quintet

Presented in collaboration with Ensemble Music Society

Adam Birnbaum Trio
The Jazz Kitchen
December 5, 2025, 6:00PM & 8:30PM

A singular voice in the landscape of modern jazz, American Piano Awards 2004 winner Adam Birnbaum is celebrated for his lyrical imagination, technical brilliance, and deep musical intelligence. With a career spanning acclaimed solo performances, trio projects, and collaborations with jazz luminaries such as the late Al Foster, Greg Osby, and Jazz at Lincoln Center, Birnbaum has established himself as a pianist of rare sensitivity and depth. He will be joined by Kenny Phelps, and Jeremy Allen for two sets at the Jazz Kitchen.

Michelle Cann with the Indianapolis Youth Orchestra (IYO)
The Palladium at the Center for the Performing Arts, Carmel, IN
February 1, 2026, 5PM

Known for her riveting interpretations of Florence Price and championing new voices, 2025 American Piano Awards Christel DeHaan Artistic Partner Michelle Cann performs alongside the Indianapolis Youth Orchestra in a celebration of talent across generations. La Scena Musicale said “Michelle Cann is technically fearless, with a bold attack and an enormous, rich sound… But even more than Cann’s virtuosity, it was her joyous, lit-from-within energy that connected with the audience.” Cann will perform Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Florence Price’s Piano Concerto with the IYO.

 

Drew Petersen & Sirena Huang

Indiana Landmarks Center
February 19, 2026
2017 American Piano Awards winner Drew Petersen joins internationally celebrated violinist Sirena Huang in a recital showcasing artistry, grace, and emotional depth. This captivating duo offers a program that spans classical elegance, vivid contemporary expression, and American lyricism.

The evening opens with Beethoven’s beloved “Spring” Sonata, an effervescent work brimming with warmth and lyrical charm. Gabriela Lena Frank’s Sueños de Chambi, inspired by the haunting photography of Martín Chambi, brings evocative textures and folkloric rhythms to life. John Adams’ monumental Phrygian Gates follows, a solo piano tour de force pulsing with shifting patterns and hypnotic energy. The program concludes with two Gershwin classics—“Summertime” and “It Ain’t Necessarily So”—offering a lush, jazz-inflected finale steeped in American spirit.

Program:
Beethoven Spring Sonata (Sonata No. 5 in F major, Op. 24)
Gabriela Lena Frank - Sueños de Chambi
John Adams - Phrygian Gates
Gershwin - “Summertime” and “It Ain’t Necessarily So”

Presented in collaboration with the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis (IVCI)

 

Esteban Castro
Christ Church Cathedral
March 15, 2026, 4PM

New York City-based American Piano Awards laureate Esteban Castro is a pianist and composer having composed over 50 original works, including a five-movement suite for piano trio.  He has garnered three ASCAP Foundation Young Jazz Composer Awards, and has won fifteen Downbeat Student Music Awards. In 2018, he was commissioned by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra to write a big band arrangement for the Thelonious Monk 100th birthday celebration.

Presented in collaboration with the Christ Church Cathedral.

Michael Davidman
University of Indianapolis
April 23, 2026, 7:30PM

With profound musical insight and poetic expression, 2025 American Piano Awards winner and Christel DeHaan Fellowship recipient Michael Davidman presents his first Artist-in-Residence recital at the University of Indianapolis. International Piano praised his performance of Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto in the 2025 finals, noting: “Rachmaninov’s formidable demands pose no problems for Davidman’s unflappable technique, and he betrayed not one iota of strain in the composer’s heavier, thicker cadenza.” Audiences can expect a compelling evening of pianistic brilliance from one of today’s most promising young artists.

Presented in collaboration with the University of Indianapolis.

Sullivan Fortner Trio
May 12, 2026 – The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, Ruth Lilly Theatre, on the Christel DeHaan Stage -  11AM
May 13, 2026 – The Jazz Kitchen 6PM & 8:30P

The season culminates in two electrifying evenings with the Sullivan Fortner Trio, featuring Fortner on piano, Tyrone Allen on bass, and Kayvon Gordon on drums. From playful improvisation to lush harmonies, these performances promise to bridge tradition and innovation in jazz. In 2015, Fortner won the American Piano Awards’ Cole Porter Fellowship.

Tickets & More Information

Season subscriptions and individual tickets will be available at pianoawards.org. For media inquiries, artist interviews, or to request press passes, please contact Kara Kavensky at kara@pianoawards.org.

Join us for a season that redefines excellence in piano artistry—celebrating the classical and the contemporary, the familiar and the new.

ABOUT AMERICAN PIANO AWARDS 
Every two years (alternating between jazz and classical), five of America’s top young pianists compete in the American Piano Awards for career-launching prizes. Each finalist — already the winner of a $25,000 cash prize — competes for the prestigious Christel DeHaan Fellowship, given every four years to an American classical pianist at the conclusion of the 13-month competition. Previous winners include Kenny Broberg, Drew Petersen, Sean Chen, Grace Fong, Spencer Myer, Frederic Chiu and Sara Davis Buechner, among others. 

 

Individual visits to Indianapolis were made by each pianist over the last five months, culminating in the finals week of 2025. All five returned to the city for events that resulted in the naming of the winner of the 2025 American Piano Awards, an award worth over $200,000, and the Christel DeHaan Fellowship in Classical.

 

For more information on the American Piano Awards, please visit www.pianoawards.org