Pianist


A pianist is a person who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with a smaller ensemble, or accompany one or more singers or solo instrumentalists.

A performing classical pianist usually starts playing piano at a very young age, some as early as three years old. Many well-known classical composers were also virtuoso pianists: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Carl Maria von Weber, Frédéric Chopin, Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Charles-Valentin Alkan, Johannes Brahms, Ferruccio Busoni, Anton Rubinstein, Alexander Scriabin, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitri Shostakovich.

Most western forms of music can make use of the piano. Consequently, pianists have a wide variety of repertoire and styles to choose from, including jazz, classical music, and all sorts of popular music.