It is the first ever World Ballet Pianists Day on 9 October, apparently!
I discovered it in the Pointe magazine’s article. And it was a nice surprise, at least for me, after being let down by the cancellation of the World Ballet Day this year.
The World Ballet Pianists Day is created by Massimo Greco, main pianist and head of the music department at the Princess Grace Academy. Here is his blog post dated November 2023 about initiating the celebration.
Massimo chose 9 October because it is the birthday of Alexander Siloti (1863-1945).
Massimo says,
“He was one of the pioneering concert pianists closely associated with dance, particularly with Tchaikovsky, owing to their familial ties. Tchaikovsky was his Harmony teacher and asked Siloti to write the piano version of Sleeping Beauty, so the first printed edition appeared in 1899.
“Siloti is a very important artistic reference for our work because he wrote the first professional transcriptions of famous ballets, (another great one is Glazunov's Raymonda, as well as Mozart's Idomeneo ballet music).
“Siloti was also the cousin of Rachmaninoff (that transcribed the Sleeping Beauty for 4 hands).
At the beginning of the collaboration between pianists and dance world, Siloti epitomized the perfect blend of a traditional pianist and one working in the dance world.”
Ballet and many other dances do not exist without pianists. Let’s show take an extra time to show our appreciation for them today! Thank you, all amazing pianists!!!!
Here is a sample of his piano music for ballet class. Enjoy 🎶