After much deliberation and discussion, the decision was made: CPI 2020 is going online! It definitely wasn’t the obvious choice, because in a way, wouldn’t it have been easier to cancel and reschedule? Then we wouldn’t have to recalibrate the budget, apply for loans, ask our faculty to continue teaching remotely, and completely reorganize the schedule.

But what CPI offers to its participants is far too valuable to be lost! We know there are pianists in the USA and around the world who are in love with making music with partners, and who are looking through a sea of information to find out about the field of collaborative piano, about what it takes to be successful and fulfilled. And since that was the very goal behind the creation of the program, we couldn’t fathom not trying everything possible to offer that information and advice.

The dates will remain the same: May 31st – June 20th, 2020, but the new location depends on each participant: living room, bedroom, basement, kitchen table.

What will be the same? We still have the same world-class faculty and guest artists. You will continue to receive the incredibly high-quality content and practical guidance we offer during regular CPI editions, since all our lecture content is online-friendly.

What is new? The format!

All our faculty has been teaching online in the past few months, and we have found many new and ingenious ways to help our students learn remotely. We realized that with the exception of in-person music making, a lot of the crucial advice CPI participants are looking for could be delivered in a similar format online. Lectures are now Zoom lectures, lessons become Zoom/GoReact lessons, masterclasses can be led synchronously or asynchronously through Zoom as well.

Of course, it’s not ideal.. But neither is vegan cheese, yet all of us dairy intolerant people make do and have our pizza anyway!

We recognize the financial difficulties that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought upon students and their families. Therefore, we have significantly reduced the cost of the festival and we are offering participants two pricing options: Auditor and Active Participant.

In addition to our world-class faculty, we are thrilled to welcome to the CPI faculty some brilliant new guest artists who want to reach out to young musicians:
Lisette Oropesa: currently one of the most successful sopranos in the world! Winner of the Tucker awards, and whose recent Traviata at the MET has drawn the critics’ unanimous praise. 
Paul Groves: One of the great American tenors of his generation, Paul Groves continues to enjoy an impressive international career performing on the stages of the world’s leading opera houses and most prestigious concert halls.

And we will have a panel and Q&A with three wonderful conductors from three different areas (opera, musical theater, and choral) where they will each talk about what they need, expect, and adore in their pianistic collaborators; what we as pianists get right, what we think is important that maybe isn’t so important, what we maybe don’t realize is important – all of it!
Lidiya Yankovskaya (Music Director of Chicago Opera Theater) 
Doug Peck (music theater music director, arranger, coach) 
Arianne Abela (choral conductor, ensemble founder) 

So for now, as we’re all hunkered down and hoping for the best as soon as possible, we might as well take these lemons and make lemonade!