Fazioli pianos are present in countless theaters, universities, and academies around the world and are requested for the most prestigious piano competitions1. Many college institutions like Julliard are starting to move towards including Fazioli’s in their schools2. Some of the hundreds of institutions owning Fazioli pianos worldwide include the Paris Conservatory and the Universities of Vienna, Graz and Salzburg3.
Fazioli pianos are known for their exceptional craftsmanship, innovative design, and superior sound quality. They are handcrafted in Italy by skilled artisans who use the finest materials available, resulting in a unique and exclusive instrument1. Fazioli pianos offer performance improvements in an instrument that has remained virtually unchanged for 300 years2.
They are distinguished by an extremely beautiful and unique sound, excellent responsiveness, and warmth and character. They are great for recording music records and quiet, indie-film-type pieces. Pianists who played on them said that they feel comfortable and not tired even after long hours2.
Fazioli pianos have won many competitions. At the 2017 Rubinstein Competition, 50% of the finalists chose Fazioli and among them the first and second prize winners1. At the Sydney Piano Competition 2016, Fazioli instruments were chosen for seven out of twelve performances by the finalists1. In the top three positions of the Frederyk Chopin competition, Fazioli was chosen 50% of the time2. All three “Fazioli pianists” admitted to the final round resulted in prize winners at the Warsaw International Chopin Piano Competition3.
Spanish pianist Pedro López Salas won the second prize at the 12th Paderewski Piano Competition in Bydgoszcz (Poland). Of the nine pianists that chose the Fazioli piano in the first stage (9/39), seven passed to the second stage (7/19), five to the semi-finals (5/8) and 2 made it to the final stage (2/5): Pedro López Salas and Okui Shio (Japan)1. All three “Fazioli pianists” admitted to the final round resulted in prize winners at the Warsaw International Chopin Piano Competition2. Bruce (Xiaoyu) Lee won first prize at the XVIII Fryderyk Chopin International Piano Competition3.
If you have spent any time on YouTube, Spotify, or TikTok in 2026, you have almost certainly heard it: the unhurried piano chord, the soft crackle of vinyl, the gentle rain in the background, the tempo that never rushes. Lo-fi music — specifically its piano-centered variants — has become the defining sonic backdrop of concentrated work, study, and intentional rest for a generation of listeners. And it is doing something unexpected in the process: it is turning passive listeners into curious beginners.
Something is happening in piano studios across the country that teachers from a generation ago would find surprising, and perhaps gratifying: the students walking in for first lessons are increasingly not children. They are adults in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and beyond — people who took a few lessons as kids and stopped, or who never started at all, and who have decided, in 2026, that now is the time.
Every few years, a piano competition produces a result that changes the conversation about what classical music is, who plays it, and where it is going. The Van Cliburn Competition's 2022 discovery of Yunchan Lim was that kind of moment. In 2026, the competition circuit — from New Orleans to Salt Lake City to the Pacific Northwest — has continued to surface talent that makes a compelling case for the health of the art form, even as the broader classical industry navigates a complex moment.
