Welcome
When we established the Theo and Petra LIEVEN International Piano Foundation in 1993, our intent was to provide an alternative to the many piano competitions that are — according to Béla Bartók — “for horses, not for artists.” Our aim was to pass the art of piano playing down from generation to generation. Our teachers (Karl-UIrich Schnabel, Rosalyn Tureck, Alicia de Larrocha, Dmitri Bashkirov, Leon Fleisher, Charles Rosen, Murray Perahia, and many others) helped us.
We are proud that our early scholars are now our teachers. Who could teach Schnabel’s pedal technique better than those who learned it from Schnabel themselves?
In 2019, we introduced a new teaching concept: the 23 – Two Cubed Piano Masterclasses. Two teachers instruct two students in two piano pieces each.
Today the foundation is located in the center of Vienna. Under the direction of its artistic director Alon Goldstein, the foundation invites eight highly distinguished young pianists to spend eight weeks in the city of Vienna each summer, to receive free lessons as well as performing opportunities throughout the city.
The current teachers include Ferenc Rados, Eliso Virsaladze, Andreas Staier, Alfred Brendel, and Arie Vardi among others, in addition to alumni such as Konstantin Lifshitz, Ingrid Fliter, Davide Cabassi, Alexei Volodin, and Alon Goldstein.
The foundation is celebrating 30 years of excellence. Its young artists went on to win major piano competitions including the Cliburn, the Chopin, Geza Anda, and many others. They perform all around the world in major concert halls.
