Established in 1998, the Miami International Piano Festival has achieved international recognition with participants and journalists from all over the world coming to the Lincoln Theater in Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale's Broward Center for the Performing Arts to experience one of the most compelling keyboard events in the world. As important cultural destinations, these cities join the ranks of other metropolitan art centers throughout the world with similar performance venues.

Set in beautiful, tropical, and multi-cultural South Florida, the Miami International Piano Festival draws on musicians from England, Poland, Italy, Yugoslavia, Russia, Argentina, Israel, the USA and more. Beyond showcasing these superb artists, the Festival offers its participants a non-competitive, richly nurturing environment in which to grow and exhibit their remarkable talents.

Festival participants typically get a tremendous boost to their careers, affirming the discerning choices of the Festival’s selection committee. Ingrid Fliter winner of the Gilmore Award 2006 was singled out by our committee as one of the most promising artists prior to the announcement of this prestigious award. Piotr Anderszwski a regular visitor to the Festival continues to stun music critics with his superb performances and audio releases setting even higher standards to his interesting career. He was also e singled out for several high profile awards – the prestigious Szymanowski Prize in 1999 for his interpretations of the composer's music and the Royal Philharmonic Society's '2000 Best Instrumentalist' award. In April 2002 he was named Gilmore Artist, succeeding previous winner Leif Ove Andsnes and was described by the award's advisory panel as 'truly extraordinary'.

Recordings from Festival performances by the Italian virtuosi Francesco Libetta and Pietro De Maria have similarly received excellent reviews from the world press. Libetta was featured in a new documentary by Monsaingeon,  ”The Pianist of the Impossible” and Pietro De Maria’s live recording from the Festival has received excellent reviews around the world. A review in the American Record Guide said, “I remember what a revelation Sviatoslav Richter’s recording [of the Wanderer Fantasy] from the 1960s was. In comparison with De Maria, Richter’s now sounds labored in spots and not as daring." 

The release of American pianist Adam Neiman’s live performance on a multi-pianist compilation, was singled out by Classics.com as “…fluent, technically rock-solid, and musically traversal of the sprawling Rachmaninoff First Sonata crowns Disc 1...the performance really moves.”

In an effort to continue furthering the careers of its outstanding artists, the Festival’s presenting organization, Patrons of Exceptional Artists, has embarked on several recording projects that will leave a lasting legacy for piano lovers and inspire new generations. VAI has recently released live performances on both DVD and CD formats by Alexander Gavrylyuk, winner of the 2005 Rubinstein Competition, Ilya Itin, a regular Festival participant, and Adam Neiman’ s all Chopin recording on DVD and CD will be available soon. His live recital at the Festival in 2004 has been recently released to great acclaim. Other future DVD releases include the live Festival performance by Kemal Gekic of the monumental Liszt’s Transcendental Etudes, and the memorable performances of Misha Dacic and Emanuele Arciuli during the Master Series in 2005

.As part of our “Prodigies & Masters of Tomorrow” program, several projects are planned for release on DVD by VAI. Up until the inception of the “Prodigies” program, the world had not seen a musical event that focuses on the development of emerging prodigies. Through the release of live performances and projects, viewers will be offered a rare opportunity to not just hear great concerts, but marvel at the high level of musical understanding that these prodigies demonstrate.