Festival participants typically get a tremendous boost to their careers, affirming the discerning choices of the Festival’s selection committee.
The last two Gilmore Award recipients, Ingrid Fliter and Piotr Anderszwski were identified by the Festival's artistic committee prior to receiving this prestigious award and highest recognition bestowed upon any pianist..

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. Click here to view all of the Festival CDs and DVDs currently available on the VAI label.

Each of the Festival's CDs and DVDs has received excellent reviews - from the earliest recordings to the most recent.  The Italian virtuosi Francesco Libetta and Pietro De Maria have each gained tremendous exposure through the recordings and Libetta, who was first discovered by filmmaker Bruno Monsaingeon at the Festival, was featured in the documentary  ”The Pianist of the Impossible” a European Gold Medal award winning film.

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 2008 the Festival began what it hopes will be a series single-composer recordings by pianists who are considered masters of interpretation.  Through the release of these recordings, the Miami International Piano Festival hopes to create the definitive library that will serve as the standard reference for generations to come.  Last year’s recording by Konstantin Lifschitz of Bach’s entire Well-Tempered Clavier is now receiving outstanding international critical acclaim. A recent review in  the Philadelphia Inquirer says, “ The Lifschitz disc isn't just a prize, it's a bargain: the entire Well-Tempered Clavier is on a single DVD - an extremely watchable one, thanks partly to interesting camera work in an inviting stage setting (at the Miami International Piano Festival) with atmospheric lighting and large potted plants. That wouldn't count for much were Lifschitz not so completely into his Bach zone. He is magnetic, his middle-weight sonority and near-infallible technique a clear prism for his personal and often profound relationship with this music. Though preludes are more often revelatory than the fugues, there's a consistency to his invention and polish that defies the live-concert circumstances. Warning: He mixes the two books of the Well-Tempered Clavier, juxtaposing how Bach explored a given key signature at different points in his life.

In 2010 we are continuing the tradition of devoting an entire day to a single artist in our Master Series and  we have challenged Ilya Itin to give 2 performances on March 7 – an afternoon devoted to Prokofiev and an evening to Rachmaninoff's 24 Preludes!

Up until the inception of the “Prodigies & Masters of Tomorrow”“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 are offered a rare opportunity to not just hear great concerts, but marvel at the high level of musical understanding that these prodigies demonstrate.

The Miami International Piano Festival is collaborating with London’s Channel 4 Television on the production of a new documentary entitled, “The World’s Greatest Prodigies” – the U.S. portion was been filmed in S. Florida.  Giselle Brodsky, the Artistic Director and Founder of the local Piano Festival that is entering its 12th Season, has been chosen to spearhead the adjudication process in determining which of the young musicians will in fact be deemed, the world’s greatest prodigy.  Mrs. Brodsky and the Festival have earned a unique reputation as the presenter of the “Prodigies and Masters of Tomorrow” concerts that take place during regular Festival programming.  Each year for the past five years a young artists has been selected to present a solo recital and sometimes invited to perform a concerto with the Miami International Piano Festival Orchestra which was founded in 2006 under the direction of Maestro William Noll.  The development of each of these prodigies has been documented through their performances and a series of interviews with the prodigies, their teachers and their parents.  Many of these gifted young people are invited back to S. Florida a few years after their debut performances so that audiences can witness their extraordinary progress.  An hour-long documentary featuring several of the young musicians was aired by local PBS affiliate WLRN Public Television in 2006 and a full-length documentary is being developed by the producers of the “Prodigies and Masters of Tomorrow” program. 
The four final American Prodigies will  fly to London in the Spring of 2009 to meet 2 other prodigies who will have been selected from Europe, Russia and China.  These talented musicians will be filmed as they learn and rehearse a newly commissioned concerto composed by England’s own 15 year old prodigy, Alexander Prior a pianist and composer.
Prodigies who have previously performed at the Miami International Piano Festival are:
Kit Armstrong (USA) – Festival debut 2004 at age 10.  Returned in 2006 at 12 and 2008 at 15.  Pianist, composer (now 17)
Rachel Cheung (China) Festival debut in 2005 at 13 (commercially released recording of this concert available on the VAI label). Returned 2007 at 15 (now 17)
Eldar Djagirov –Festival Debut 2004 at 16 (now 21 with a full professional career)
Karsten Gimre - Festival Debut in 2005 at the age of 11
Peng Peng – Festival Debut in 2005 at the age of 11
Conrad Tao – Festival debut in 2005 returned in 2006 and 2007 at the age of 10, 11, and 13
Eugene Ugorski – Festival debut in 2004 at the age of 13 returned in 2005  and  2007.
Sijing Ye – Festival debut in 2006 at the age of 13 and returned in 2008.
Ji Yong – Festival debut in 2003, at the age of 10, returned in 2004, and 2006