0_Wizard
I really enjoy the piano.  The word actually comes from pianoforte in the 1700s
The word "piano" is a shortened form of "pianoforte", the Italian term for the early 1700s versions of the instrument, which in turn derives from "gravicembalo col piano e forte" and "fortepiano".
chosen_Piano_0
Piano
chosen_topic_0_Piano
Piano
The piano is an acoustic, stringed musical instrument invented in Italy by Bartolomeo Cristofori around the year 1700 (the exact year is uncertain), in which the strings are struck by hammers. It is played using a keyboard, which is a row of keys (small levers) that the performer presses down or strikes with the fingers and thumbs of both hands to cause the hammers to strike the strings. The word "piano" is a shortened form of "pianoforte", the Italian term for the early 1700s versions of the instrument, which in turn derives from "gravicembalo col piano e forte" and "fortepiano". The Italian musical terms "piano" and "forte" indicate "soft" and "loud" respectively, in this context referring to the variations in volume (i.e., loudness) produced in response to a pianist's touch or pressure on the keys: the greater the velocity of a key press, the greater the force of the hammer hitting the strings, and the louder the sound of the note produced and the stronger the attack.
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers, with one performer to a part (in contrast to orchestral music, in which each string part is played by a number of performers). However, by convention, it usually does not include solo instrument performances. Because of its intimate nature, chamber music has been described as "the music of friends". For more than 100 years, chamber music was played primarily by amateur musicians in their homes, and even today, when chamber music performance has migrated from the home to the concert hall, many musicians, amateur and professional, still play chamber music for their own pleasure.
PianoForte Foundation
The PianoForte Foundation (PFF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that presents classical and jazz piano concerts in Chicago, Illinois. Established in 2005 by piano dealer Thomas Zoells, PianoForte Foundation presents over 60 concerts each year in downtown Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. PianoForte Foundation is dedicated to preserving and promoting the art of the piano in Chicago and creating a vibrant piano community that closely connects audiences and artists. The Foundation brings excitement and appreciation for piano music to a wide audience through high-quality concerts, festivals, competitions, education, outreach, and public broadcasts.
Michael Corinthos
Michael Corinthos is a fictional character on "General Hospital", an American soap opera on the ABC network. Born onscreen in 1997, the role was portrayed by several child actors, most notably Dylan Cash when the character was rapidly aged in 2002. In 2009, the character was aged again when Drew Garrett stepped into the role. Garrett was replaced by Chad Duell after one year with the series. As the son of A. J. Quartermaine and Carly Corinthos, nephew of mob enforcer Jason Morgan, and adoptive son of mob boss Sonny Corinthos, he is born into chaos. Taken from A. J. as a child, Michael is raised at the center of a bitter battle between his biological family, the wealthy Quartermaines, and the Corinthos family.
Kingisepp
Kingisepp ( or ; ), formerly Yamburg (), Yam (), and Yama (), is an ancient town and the administrative center of Kingiseppsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located along the Luga River southwest of St. Petersburg, east of Narva, and south of the Gulf of Finland. Population:   The town was first documented in 1384, when the Novgorodians under Patrikas built there a fortress against the Swedes. It was called Yama or Yamsky Gorodok, after the Ingrian (ethnic Finnic group) name Jaama. The environs of the town are still cited as the main location of speakers of the nearly extinct Ingrian language.
Amy Elsie Horrocks
Amy Elise Horrocks (February 23, 1867 – ca. 1919) was an English music educator, composer and pianist. She was born to English parents (Francis James Horrocks July 8, 1829 - April 27, 1913) and Hannah Horrocks (née Allen 1833 - April 22, 1913) in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and in 1882 studied piano and composition at the Royal Academy of Music with Adolf Schlösser and Francis William Davenport. She won the Potter Exhibition prize in 1888 and the Bennett Prize in 1889. After completing her studies, she performed as a pianist and taught music in London. There are claims that she was proposed to by Sir Henry Wood, whom she turned down.
Americus Backers
Americus Backers (died 1778), sometimes described as the father of the English grand pianoforte style, brought the hammer striking action for keyboard instruments from his master Gottfried Silbermann's workshop in Freiburg to England in the mid-18th century. Unlike the eleven other ex-apprentices of Silbermann who followed him to England and built square pianos with Silbermann's action, he developed Silbermann's crude action (copied from a published sketch of the original Cristofori into a reliable, powerful and responsive form that he built into a grand harpsichord case and added two tonal effects – una corda and damper lift – activated by pedals built into the dedicated trestle stand, again his original innovation.