16th. February, 2010: The UK's very own Rich Batsford has received warm praise from respected US piano reviewer Kathy Parsons for his debut CD Valentine Court. Check out this very promising pianist at Amazon or CD Baby, and visit Kathy's extensive site- www.mainlypiano.com to read her review.

16th. February, 2010: Chad Lawson's ?Set on a Hill? has been named as Whisperings' Album of the Year. No surprise to this reviewer- it really is an outstanding piano CD. Congratulations to Chad, and every success to him in the future.

30th. August, 2009: Minnesota pianist Amy Skjei releases her second CD, ?Simplicity?, described as "perfect background music". The eleven-track CD is a follow-up to the successful ?Autumn Moments?. Both CDs are available from CD Baby.

15th. August, 2009: Talented pianist Rada Neal releases her sixth CD, ?Sixth Serenade?, a collection of thirteen solo-piano pieces. To listen to samples or to purchase this CD (or others), please visit the artist's site- www.pianopassions.com

26th. July, 2009: Pianist Paul Cardall (of ?Sign of Affection? and ?The Looking Glass? fame) to release a special collection of his best work spanning the last fifteen years. Entitled ?Sacred Piano?, the CD will be available from August 18th. Meanwhile, Paul continues to wait for his new heart, but is in good spirits. Piano-Heaven sends Paul and his family its very best wishes and hopes that the operation can take place very soon. www.paulcardall.com

26th. July, 2009: Ever-popular Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi, set to release his latest album ?Nightbook? and launch a UK tour during Autumn 2009. The new CD is to be released in the UK on October 5th. 2009. For more information on this, together with a list of concert dates, visit www.ludovicoeinaudi.com.

25th. July, 2009: Chad Lawson's solo-piano CD has been nominated for Whisperings' Album of the Year award. More information about this talented pianist can be found at www.chadlawson.com.

24th. July, 2009: ?The Golden Road? composer, John Albert Thomas, releases a special gift service with a unique touch offering personalised compositions for you or someone dear to you. For more information, visit the composer's site at

http://johnalbertthomas.com/music/pianoportraits/

23rd. July, 2009: Well known composer Greg Maroney releases his new CD- ?The Garden Gate?. For more information about this stellar artist, and to listen to musical samples, please visit www.gregmaroney.com.

22nd. July, 2009: Popular pianist Marc Enfroy has released his second CD, ?Awakening?. More information can be found at the composer's website together with sound clips- www.marcenfroy.com.

21st. July, 2009: The latest episode of Kevin Kern's new podcast series, ?Piano Stories? is now available free on iTunes. In it, Kevin talks candidly about his blindness and how it inspired his piano compositions. More details at www.kevinkern.com.

20th. July, 2009: Award-winning pianist Jane Leslie has released her latest CD, ?Southampton Sunset?. To hear samples of her music, please visit the composer's web-site: www.janelesliemusic.com

19th. July, 2009: American pianist Ray Sharp reminds visitors to Piano-Heaven of his inspiring 2001 release, ?Exaudio?. To hear samples, and for more information about this talented pianist, visit www.raysharp.com.

18th. July, 2009: Matthew Labarge's wide-ranging solo-piano CD, ?In Small Hours? is available for purchase and the composer writes that a new CD of original piano music is in the works. For more details, please go to www.matthewlabarge.com.

17th. July, 2009: Richard Carr writes to publicise ?Dimensional Interplay?, the long awaited collaboration with Native American flautist Bradford Smith. The album was inspired by the creative efforts of Peter Kater and R. Carlos Nakai. A new acoustic piano album is planned for later in 2009. www.richardcarr.com.

16th. July, 2009: Craig Burdette releases his debut CD, ?Recollections? to critical acclaim. It is available from CD Baby and from the artist's web-site- www.craigburdette.com. 

15th. July, 2009: Vermont composer Cynthia Kendall releases her second CD, ?Imagine? featuring piano accompanied by a variety of other instruments. Readers can visit her site, www.tranquilmelodies.com for more information and for sound samples.

19th. December, 2008: Popular American pianist Bradley Joseph releases a new collection of solo-piano Christmas favourites entitled ?Classic Christmas?. More details at www.bradleyjoseph.com.

15th. November, 2008: Kevin Kern, stalwart of the Real Music label, will release a new CD entitled ?Endless Blue Sky? on the 27th. January, 2009. More details nearer the time.

7th. November, 2008: Multi-talented American composer Michael Allen Harrison has released a new festive CD entitled ?Christmas Anthology?. Michael has also repackaged his Piano-Heaven award-winning ?Composer / Pianist? album into a single CD format, featuring the greatest hits of this prolific composer's career. In addition, Michael is gearing up for his 19th. annual ?Christmas at the Old Church? holiday shows, with performances between 15th. December and Christmas Eve. More details relating to the new albums and performances can be found at www.michaelallenharrison.com. 

5th. November, 2008: Renowned German pianist Bernward Koch will have a brand new track on the upcoming new Real Music album ?Finding Balance?, part of the ?Sacred Spa II? series. The CD will be released in January 2009. The selected track, ?Immortal Thoughts? will be featured in Bernward's brand new album for Real Music, scheduled for release on 19th. May, 2009. 

28th. October, 2008: John Albert Thomas (sometimes referred to as John A. Thomas) has released a follow-up to his acclaimed ?The Golden Road? simply entitled ?Piano Works Volume 2?. In addition, ?The Golden Road? has been repackaged and reissued as ?Piano Works Volume 1?. A third CD is a work in progress. Listen to samples and purchase the CDs at www.cdbaby.com and visit the composer's web-site at www.johnalbertthomas.com. 

24th. October, 2008: Spencer Brewer released his first new album in twelve years during September 2008- ?Cinematic?, an epic two-disc affair, the first of which features mainly solo-piano, and the second, instrumental versions of the same music. The music often has a jazz feel to it. Highlights include the lovely ?Heartwood? on Disc 1, featuring the world-famous Alex de Grassi on guitar and Matt Eakle on flute, ?Dreamgift? on Disc 2, featuring Jessica Schaeffer on harp, and the multi-instrumental ?Heartwood? with Jeremy Cohen and Kayo Miki playing the violin, Emily Onderdonk playing the viola, Joel Cohen on cello, Cliff Hugo on string bass, Paul Hadley on the French horn and Eric Van Dyke playing the clarinet. This is a production on a very grand scale, and features the artwork of Salvador Dali. More information can be found at www.spencerbrewer.com.

13th. October, 2008: Stephan Moccio e-mails to say that news pertaining to a new release will be forthcoming shortly, and that he will be touring France and Japan in the near future. Be sure to check out this Canadian pianist's website at www.stephanmoccio.com.

12th. October, 2008: Jim Brickman, the former best-selling artist on the now defunct Windham Hill label, returns to his roots with ?Unspoken?, released on September 9th. on the Savoy Jazz label. Further information can be found at the artist's website: www.jimbrickman.com.

12th. October, 2008: Popular pianist Suzanne Ciani releases a DVD entitled ?Galapagos: A Musical Odyssey?. www.suzanneciani.com for more details.

12th. October, 2008: Former Narada pianist David Lanz, one of the most popular musicians in the genre, releases ?Painting the Sun? on the Shanachie label- a return to his solo piano days. For further information, visit www.davidlanz.com.

11th. October, 2008: Popular cellist David Darling, who collaborated so successfully with Canadian pianist Michael Jones in the acclaimed ?Amber?, teams up with pianist Eve Kodiak in a CD of pure improvisations entitled ?The Return of Desire?. More details can be found at www.daviddarling.com.

2nd. October, 2008: Award-winning Australian pianist Fiona Joy Hawkins released her latest album, ?Blue Dream?, on October 1st. The 70 minute CD is produced by Grammy-award winning artist Will Ackerman, the founder of the Windham Hill Record label. For more details, visit www.fionajoy.com.

26th. September, 2008: Popular Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi expected to release new album during 2009. Visit the artist's site at www.ludovicoeinaudi.com. Read further snippets of information about the new release within the site's Forum pages.

1) The world's largest piano is called the Challen Concert Grand? It is eleven foot long, has a total string tension of over thirty tons, and weighs over a ton!

2) "Tickling the ivories" is something of a misnomer? Ivory hasn't been used in the manufacture of piano keys since the 1950s. Since then, the keys are made from plastic.

3) There are over fifty brand names of pianos around the world?

4) The term "Grand" as in "Grand Piano" was first used in 1777?

5) In America alone, there are over ten million pianos in homes and businesses?