Pianofest Returns to the Hamptons

In East Hampton, a modest house off Montauk Highway is filled each summer season with the music of talented young pianists from around the world.

The musicians in this house are participating in Pianofest, a summer festival that offers a concentrated study to around 16 pianists each summer. This program currently hosts eight student pianists who are participating in the first of two, three weeklong sessions. Pianofest celebrates its 35th season this summer, with daily piano lessons and several recitals at a variety of venues on the East End between now and July 31.

“Usually, when the pianists first come, typically on the first day, everyone is a little unnerved, so they all play their hardest and loudest pieces,” said Paul Schenly, the founder and director of Pianofest. “And then I go around and try to reassure everyone that it is a supportive atmosphere. I think a big key is that this is not competition but support.”

Each pianist in the program gets the opportunity to perform roughly six times over the three-week period and learn and practice alongside the other students during their time at Pianofest. These students receive near-daily lessons from Schenly, and additionally get to work intensively with several renowned performers and teachers during their Pianofest experience.

Even though these students are only together here on the East End for three weeks, they live, cook, play and learn with each other during that time, which creates a strong sense of community.

“The house is a big part of the experience,” said Schenly. “I have had offers for dormitories for the students, but I have turned them down because the Pianofest experience is the collaborative part of it.”

Schenly explained that this sense of community is not typical in the world of piano playing, and it is what makes Pianofest so unique. The house that the students rehearse in, which holds 11 different pianos — including one in the kitchen — fosters close friendships between the students.

“It’s a nice setting because everyone is together, and you can see your peers practicing,” said Victória Paulino de Souza, a current student of Pianofest. “You can learn something from each other.”

De Souza, a 22-year-old young woman from Brazil, said that she started playing the piano when she was just five years old. She has been living in the United States for the past four years and came here to pursue her career in music. Although there are opportunities in Brazil for pianists to play in operas and other musical performances, she explained that there are far more opportunities here in the United States than there are in South America. She added that to really meet people and network in the musical world, the United States is the place to be.

However, even in this country, pianists are rarely taught how to properly network.

“It is typically something that pianists are not ever taught how to do,” said Noah Hardaway, assistant to the director and chairman of Pianofest. “They get their magnificent training, and they can play almost anything, and they go out into the world expecting something to happen and concerts to be given to them to perform, but they don’t know how to make friends in that way and how to make professional contacts and maintain long-term relationships.”

For this reason, Pianofest aims to invite professionals and alumni to attend the summer recitals and be in the audiences so that these students can meet them, network and be successful in their future performance careers.

Over 500 student pianists have made their way through this house and the Pianofest program, and the alumni community is full of success stories. Alumni from the program have won prizes and accolades around the world for their performances and musical talent. Former student Michelle Cann won a Grammy Award for her 2022 recording of the Florence Price concerto. Other alumni have become professors at prestigious universities like The Juilliard School, to teach other talented musicians what they have learned.

Gabriel Merrill-Steskal, another current student of Pianofest 2023, grew up playing the piano, starting at the age of four. He said that he is grateful to be a part of such a unique summer program.

“I heard about Pianofest from a friend who was in the program several years ago,” Merrill-Steskal recalled. “It seemed like a great place to come and learn from the guest artists and the teachers here and have so many performing opportunities.”

Merrill-Steskal is currently pursuing his doctorate in piano performance at the University of Michigan after having completed a dual major at his undergraduate university in chemistry and music. He ultimately decided to pursue music over chemistry because he said he felt that he would never spend enough time with the piano unless it was his sole focus.

“The more you learn about music and piano the more interesting it gets,” Merrill-Steskal said. “You can’t ever exhaust it. It keeps on giving back and it never stops being interesting.”

Despite the dedication of all these students to their musical talents, don’t be fooled. These pianists still know how to relax and enjoy a summer in the Hamptons. The program allows them time to bond with their fellow students over music and the shared experience of Pianofest. Merrill-Steskal reflected how, on one evening when the weather was nice, the students and teachers all went down to the beach to eat dinner and celebrate the birthday of another student. De Souza, added that they have also been thrift shopping, and in their free time the girls will occasionally go try all the different coffee shops in their area.

To hear Pianofest students perform, the Avram Theater at Stony Brook Southampton, 239 Montauk Highway, Southampton, hosts concerts every Monday in July, starting at 5 p.m. There will also be a concert presented in East Hampton at St Luke’s Episcopal Church, 18 James Lane, on Wednesday, July 26, at 6 p.m. Tickets for the concerts are $30 at the door, cash only.

Another concert will be presented at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center, 76 Main Street, Westhampton Beach, on Thursday, July 27, at 7 p.m. and tickets can be bought online at pianofest.com.