A pianist (pronounced /ˈpiː.ənɨst/ (PEE-ə-nist) or /piˈænɨst/ (pee-A-nist)) is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.

A performing classical pianist usually starts playing piano at a very young age. Many well-known classical composers were also virtuoso pianists including:

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
• Ludwig van Beethoven,
• Frédéric Chopin,
• Franz Liszt,
• Sergei Rachmaninoff,
• Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy,
• Carl Maria von Weber,
• Charles-Valentin Alkan,
• Johannes Brahms,
• Ferruccio Busoni,
• Anton Rubinstein,
• Alexander Scriabin,
• Sergei Prokofiev,
• Dmitri Shostakovich,
• Joseph-Maurice Ravel
• Claude Debussy

Most western forms of music can make use of the piano. Consequently, pianists have a wide variety of repertoire and styles to choose from, including

• jazz,
• classical music,
• all sorts of popular music.

A single listing of pianists in all genres would be impractical, given the multitude of musicians noted for their performances on the instrument. Below are links to lists of well-known or influential pianists divided by genres:

Contents 1 Classical pianists 2 Pop and rock music pianists 3 Jazz pianists 4 Blues pianists 5 Country pianists 6 Gospel pianists 7 New Age pianists

[edit] Classical pianists

• Classical pianists (recorded)
• List of classical pianists
• List of classical piano duos (performers)

[edit] Pop and rock music pianists

• List of pop and rock pianists

[edit] Jazz pianists

• List of jazz pianists

[edit] Blues pianists

• List of blues musicians
• List of boogie woogie musicians

[edit] Country pianists

• List of country music performers

[edit] Gospel pianists

• List of gospel musicians

[edit] New Age pianists

• List of New Age music artists