Dear Members and Friends of the Piano Teachers Congress of New York,
It is with great joy and anticipation that I welcome you to the 2025–2026 season of the Piano Teachers Congress of New York! This year holds a special place in our history, as we celebrate the centennial of our organization. One hundred years of music-making, pedagogy, and community is an extraordinary achievement, and we will be marking this milestone together.
Please join me for our Welcome Meeting on Zoom, September 25, 2025 at 10AM Eastern Time – a kickoff of our 2025-2026 season! We’ll discuss our incredible lineup of acclaimed musicians and presenters, our student programs, and of course our Centennial Celebration!
This season also brings exciting developments in our Honors Program, with new special prizes for our performers, including a Latinx Voices Prize, an African Diaspora Prize, the Dina Koston Women Composers Award, and an Asian Composer Award. Details on prizes and auditions may be found on our website, and I encourage you to explore them as you prepare your students.
This season, we are proud to present four professional development workshops with extraordinary artists and teachers, as well as our masterclass! Join us for a workshop celebrating Latin American classics with Kristhyan Benitez; a presentation focusing on music entrepreneurship and private studio development with Kelly Riordan; a lecture recital on Debussy in Paris, focusing on fin-de-siecle Paris whimsy and issues of race and colonialism with Catherine Kautsky; and a fabulous recital and Q&A by incredible Eduardus Halim. We’ll have a masterclass with the renowned pianist and Curtis faculty member Ignat Solzhenitsyn.
We are also introducing our Parents Corner, a new program of three Zoom meetings, designed for the parents of our members’ students, with guidance on competition preparation, home practice, and concert programming.
And of course, we continue our full lineup of student programs and performance opportunities for all ages and levels, including our Fall and Spring Recitals, Young Artist Recital, Piano Plus Program, two dates for our Adult Piano Salon, and the 20th/21st Century Festival. Please note our new opportunities for concerto performances at our PianoPlus program, as well as a new commissioned piece for the 20/21st Century Festival!
To our longstanding members, I thank you for your dedication to the PTC — your participation is the heart of our organization. To our new members, I extend a warm welcome and encourage you to immerse yourself in all the opportunities our centennial season has to offer.
I look forward to seeing you at our events and, most of all, to celebrating this historic year together.
Warmly,
Margarita Rovenskaya, DMA
President, Piano Teachers Congress of New York