It comes as no surprise that Art of the Piano, the festival of pianists and piano music founded by Awadagin Pratt, will be virtual — or “Onlive!” — this year-of-the-covid.

The festival will begin at 6 p.m. June 23 with  a live-streamed concert by a superstar pianist to be named “once the ink is dry on the corona-revised contract,” Pratt says. The festival runs through July 27 with weekly concerts and lectures by both distinguished and emerging artists.

The website is under construction in preparation, so check back for news at artofthepiano.org.

Here is Awadagin’s statement regarding diversity with his announcement:

“These last weeks we have been getting inundated by corporations, organizations, restaurants, wineries, carpenters, lawn care companies, banks; every manner of business offering support to the African-American community, and an affirmation of their interest in diversity. This is tremendous. At the same time however, most of those organizations don’t have African Americans in the upper regions of their leadership, nor many represented in their organizational structure period. They must resort to giving affirmations, because they have not made affirmative actions. Funny how that term became such a fraught phrase. And yet it’s such a supremely positive phrase. Affirmative action. I affirm my belief, and I act upon it.  

“We don’t have to give affirmations here at the Art of the Piano. The President of the Board and Artistic Director is African American. Our foundation, with an ethnically and gender-balanced board represents true diversity and we have consistently sought out a diverse faculty and student body at the festival. So, instead of affirmation, I will give you testimony.”