Contemporary Piano Music: New Online Portal Petrushka Project

The Petrushka Project was jointly initiated by the publishing house Schott Music and the Strecker Foundation from Mainz. Composers from all over the world are regularly invited to write new pieces on a given theme. The project's aim is to encourage the creation of contemporary music and try new ways of digitally spreading music.

The theme of the Petrushka Project 2012 is 'Dances of Our Time for Piano Solo'. More than 70 composers from 26 countries took part in this project and wrote a piece in their characteristic style. The result is an exceptional snapshot of contemporary piano music. Among these composers are Peter Eötvös, Heinz Holliger, Toshio Hosokawa, Peter Maxwell Davies, Tobias Picker, Aribert Reimann, Fazil Say, Dieter Schnebel, Jörg Widmann and Xiaogang Ye.

20 pieces of the Petrushka Project 2012 will be performed for the first time by the pianists Oliver Triendl and Vestard Shimkus at a concert in Mainz on 14 July 2012. Over 50 pieces were already presented in June 2012 at concerts in London, Beijing and New York. From 15 July 2012 all 73 world premieres can be viewed at the web site www.petrushka-project.com where every interested user can download sheet music of the pieces and find further information on the new compositions.

• www.petrushka-project.com