After the piano party is before the piano party, as every German football enthusiast knows.

One possibility for next year is Germany.
The date would have to be a weekend in September 2018. I recommend not too late; the weather can be chilly in late September.

As general location, there are two options: Close to the Rhine, in Sankt Goar; or in Nürnberg, where I live.

About Sankt Goar: There is an academy with grand pianos there; and it's possible to rent a hall for a Saturday afternoon. Price: Probably 45 € per person.
Sankt Goar is close to the Loreley, with possibilities to visit castles or do a ship trip on the Rhine.

About Nürnberg: There are several hotels with pianos; but I don't know how good they are.
As a last resort, the party could be at my place; but I only have enough seating accomodations for up to 10 guests.

So: What do you think?
Is anyone interested in a piano party in Germany?

Maybe if I can arrange European Delivery of a new GT4 that week....wouldn't that be a great tie-in

I love these annual European Piano Parties. They are such fun! You can count me in for either location. I love the Rhine area, and Sankt Goar is in the heart of the most beautiful part of it, next to the Loreley. The Rhine flows through a steep gorge in this area with castles dotting the hillsides. September is a beautiful month to be there, because it is wine harvest time.

I have not been to Nuremberg, but I would be interested in a discovering a new part of Germany. Either place sounds fun!

I would strongly prefer St. Goar because of its beautiful surroundings. A hall at a piano academy for 45 EUR sounds fine. I also liked your first proposal (hotel Rheinfels).

Patrick, this is great news.

I plan to come with Mr Casinitaly, and we are fine with either location.
We've already been to Nuremburg (as you know! ) and loved it, we'd be happy to go back, no problem.

On the other hand, the Rhine location looks absolutely spectuacular and we've never been there so we'd be very keen to go there. The cost per person is fine with us.
I also like the idea that we could go on a boat trip on the river.

My first choice would probably be the Rhine - but if the majority vote for Nuremburg, that's absolutely fine. The hotel we stayed at was really nice, near the centre and not expensive - I can look it up and share the info if that becomes the location.

Thanks for getting such an early start on the party - I'm excited about it already!

Both locations would be great. I am not very good but would love to attend.

PatH, would love to attend. I've applied for sabbatical that semester so maybe it's possible.

Quick update:

My sister and me have scheduled an appointment with the Sankt Goar International Music Festival Academy (SG-IMFA), to check out if the location is appropriate for a piano party. The appointment is at the beginning of December.
Links to the academy can be found here:
http://www.sg-imfa.com/de/about-us/our-venue-airbnb/

Staying at the academy is possible, but does not have hotel comfort.
We don't have to stay there for the night; I am thinking that some people might want to stay at hotels in St.Goar. The Schloss Rheinfels which has a grand piano in its lobby (see here) is at about 20 minutes walking distance from the academy, according to Google Maps.

It would be good however if I knew before the appointment in December if there are people interested in staying the night at the academy; or if hotels somewhere else are the preferred options.
This way, I can tell the academy if we need rooms.

Since the appointment is in a month, people have time to think about it.

The academy looks like a great place for the party. We would prefer to stay in a hotel, probably Schloss Rheinfels. I have not stayed there before, but I love Schloss hotels!

Hi Patrick -

the academy looks wonderful! I think it could be perfect for us!

You and your sister are a great team!!!!

Mr. Casinitaly and I would also prefer to stay at a hotel and the Schloss Rheinfels looks great! We've never stayed in a Schloss!

We are looking at the location to decide if we would drive up or take the train. .... but we're coming!

The academy is fantastic! I also do like the hotel Rheinfels and would prefer having a room there, not at the academy.

We would prefer to stay in a hotel, Pat. The academy sounds fascinating.

I would definitely be interested, though it depends on my schedule, work, school, whatever that ties me up, in ten months from now. I want to take a trip to Germany anyway, and a party like this would give me a good reason.

I was looking at flights from Copenhagen to Frankfurt am Main, which seems the most logical destination, and it doesn't cost that much. The best prices were non-direct flights, either with London or Amsterdam in between.

Hoping this will happen, and even if I can't make it, it'll be a joy to the ones who will be there. Great enterprise, patH!

I have an update; unfortunately not a very good one.

This weekend, my sister and me were supposed to meet the director of the academy; but he wasn't there, and nobody else was there either who could have shown us the location.
Luckily my sister had the good sense to call before, so we didn't have to make the trip.

She rescheduled for December 29th. On that day, a meeting with the academy director will hopefully be possible.
If not, then I guess I'll stop considering the academy as an option.

Since other locations on the Rhine where a bit of privacy is possible are hard to find, this may mean that the EPP 2018 would take place in Nürnberg; or not at all.
So keep your fingers crossed that December 29th will not turn out to be a dead end.

Hi PatH - I am so glad you didn't make the trip up there for nothing!
What a shame!
I hope things go better on the 29th.

If we end up in Nurnberg, that's fine - it's a wonderful city - let's see how it all unfolds!

Thank you for all your effort on this. The behinds the scenes work is enormous and we appreciate it. Still hoping to plan a trip to join you all.

Putting one of these parties together is a huge undertaking! I am glad you did not end up making an unnecessary trip. Hopefully the December meeting will work out. If not, I am happy to meet in Núrnberg!

Hi Path, Hi all,
At this point I would say a big YES for us, but it's better to put us on the "maybe" list.
Both locations are fine for me.

Cheers,
CarlosCC

Wow, this sounds exciting. I’m going to kick this idea around and see if I can get any interest from my other half. We love that part of the world. Being a complete newbie to this idea and never having played for anyone or recorded anything - not sure if I can promise to be brave enough to participate but would love to meet up with the folks with funny names who have been so supportive over the years......

Nice to see the list growing.

So far, we have:

Adelheid
Carlos + x (maybe)
casinitaly + 1
cmb13 (maybe)
SwissMS + 1
Palmpirate + 1
patH + 1
Pianist685
TheodorN (maybe)
WiseBuff + 1

Which could be 16 people or more.
Let's hope that the Academy in St.Goar does not turn out to be a dead end.

We have a date and a location!
Today my sister and me went to the academy in St.Goar and secured the location.

The European Piano Party 2018 will take place on

Saturday, September 8th 2018,
at the Sankt Goar International Music Festival Academy.
http://www.sg-imfa.com/

My parents will be coming too. We will stay at the Schloss Rheinfels.

About night locations: Most people interested wanted to stay in hotels. In this case, I recommend looking for rooms soon. On that weekend, there is a "Rhein in Flammen" event (rhine in flames) in Oberwesel, which is close to St.Goar. So it's possible that locations will be scarce soon.
It is also possible to spend the night at the Academy, as mentioned above. It's not like in a hotel; and the manager is very busy and prefers if people don't ask individually for room; but that I tel him the number of people, if necessary. I guess it would be best if those who definitely want to attend notify me (on this thread or per PM) if they want to take that option.

As program, my sister and me thought out the following:
Meeting on Friday, dinner at the Schloss Rheinfels
Saturday: Piano playing at the academy with a lunch break (details to be determined); in the evening possibly visiting the Rhein in Flammen; details to be determined as well.
No fix plans for sunday yet.

Looking forward to meeting you!

@casinitaly: Maybe you could change the title of this thread; remove the question mark and add the date (8.9.2018). Thanks.

PatH this is great news!
You and your sister have set us up beautifully!

I have changed the thread title and I can’t wait to get our room at the hotel booked!

It’s great to have our location fixed so early!
And it will be a pleasure to meet your parents too!!
Thanks to both of you!

Fantastic news, patH! Thanks to you and your sister for getting this set up. It is going to be a fantastic weekend! We will plan on staying at castle Rheinfels as well.

i just booked us in at the Schloss from Friday 7th til Monday morning.

PatH's suggestion to book soon is REALLY IMPORTANT - it already seems that there are not so many rooms left at that time

I just booked for us at the Rheinfels. I am already getting excited!

I wish I could go but not possible. I need to take 2 weeks off to go to Japan for my mom's eye surgery support. In October I'm planning to take another 2 weeks off to accompany my mom's first Euro trip. We go to Paris and Venice. I thought about mixing the two trips together but I'm busy in September - September 30th is my company's year end. Maybe next year. Look forward to many pictures:)

This may be out for us too. Plans are forming to be in Europe some time in October with a trip up the St Lawrence for the fall colours beforehand. A September trip to Germany as well will be too much. Much as I'd love to meet up with you all, it might have to be another time. I'll keep watching the progress and jump in again if things change.

Wow, tempting now.

Kathy and I orchestrated a Piano Shop/Factory tour in 2011 that started in Hamburg Germany and ended in Vienna Austria.
We fell in love with Germany, such a beautiful country, and a music lover's paradise.

Our good friend Robin Meloy Goldsby (The Piano Girl) lives in Germany, and we have friends/contacts at Bosendorfer, Bluthner, and Steingraeber.

Not really in our budget, but at 66 (I turned 66 in November, Kathy catches up on New Years Eve) we are more inclined to
do things we might not have done before simply because one doesn't know how much longer one can keep joining adventures.

Anyway, keeping an eye on this thread for sure!

All the Best, and a Happy New Year!
Frank & Kath
Your Piano World Hosts

Having trouble making a reservation at the Schloss Rheimfels. The online site is not going through. I'll work at it again here.

GOT IT!! Used a different site. We are booked from Friday until Tuesday. Which airport (international) is best to travel through?? Frankfurt??
Exciting to plan.