Piano Day 2026

The Piano Day 2026 project has been developed jointly by Copenhagen-based international pianists Nadia Okrusko, Matt Choboter, and Margaux Oswald. They want to continue the tradition where the 88th day of the year – symbolic of the 88 keys on a piano – is celebrated internationally around the world as the piano's own special day.The concert will consist of four short solo programs from four different pianists. The aim is to showcase the versatility of the piano and present four very different approaches to the instrument. The program ranges from classical and modern piano music to free jazz improvisation and sound/visual installation.Set-order:Doors @ 18:30 19:00 | Nadia Okrusko (LT/DK)19:45 | Matt Choboter (CA/DK)20:30 | Marta Finkelštein (LT)21:15 | Margaux Oswald (CH/DK)Nadia Okrusko (Lithuania/DK)Nadia is a classical pianist, chamber musician, and visual artist based in Copenhagen. Nadia studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory and the Royal Danish Academy of Music with Prof. Niklas Sivelöv, and won first prize at the Rosalyn Tureck - Bach Competition in New York. In 2022 and 2023, she initiated the Copenhagen Piano Soloists concert series, which presented classical piano works and soloists to the city's audiences.For Piano Day 2026, Nadia will perform a program of Alexander Scriabin's piano miniatures, which add a late Romantic and expressionist touch to the day's program. Scriabin's music plays a personal role in her life, as it was played by her grandparents – both professional musicians – and was an essential part of her childhood soundscape.Matt Choboter (CA/DK)extended piano, hand-made microtonal zither and an interactive multi-channel installation.Canadian composer and pianist, Matt Choboter’s music paints subliminal sound narratives within Contemporary Music. Informed by non-western cultures and eclectic spiritualism, he embraces liminal psychology and dream work; a panpsychist ecology; and a musical practice which absorbs distinct features of Just Intonation, South Indian classical and Balinese Gamelan. Nominated for composer of the year (2025 Danish Music Awards) he contributes to labels such as Kairos (AU), Inner Circle Music (NY), ILK Music (DK) and Songlines Recordings (CA) with music described as - “ephemeral and beautifully fragile” (Passive Aggressive, DK), “A realized musical dream” (MusicWorks, CA) and music that “expands and blows the mind” (London Jazz News). (More info at www.mattchoboter.com)Matt's installation: An immersive dream-sharing ritual where the fragile and ephemeral sounds of pre-recorded organs and live prepared piano come together through a vibrant and ecstatic forest installation. The installation consists of recycled Canadian cedar wood taken from the forest next to my mother's home in Sechelt, British Columbia. The discarded wood has been given new life. With careful sculpting of the wood and attaching transducers to the wood, each “tree” is able to tell a story through their own resonances and materiality. The pieces of wood act as electro-acoustic resonators whereby composed & improvised sounds can pass through.Marta Finkelštein (Lithuania)Marta is a performer and music curator from Vilnius. Her work combines theoretical research and artistic practice. She holds an artistic PhD from the Lithuanian Academy of Music (2023) and has studied music curation at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland. Marta has been artistic director of the Lithuanian ensemble Synaesthesis for a number of years, which under her artistic leadership has received the prestigious Ernst von Siemens Ensemble Prize, among other awards.For Piano Day 2026, she will present the solo program Between a Thousand Moons, which brings together Lithuanian musical miniatures from the period 1905–2024. The program explores aesthetic connections between works learned in childhood, archival finds, and more recent compositions.Margaux Oswald (Switzerland/DK)Margaux is a versatile pianist, born in Geneva and based in Copenhagen, where she completed her studies at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory. Her debut album Dysphotic Zone, released on Clean Feed Records, was selected as one of the best solo albums of 2022 by New York City Jazz Record. Since then, Margaux has attracted international attention for her freely improvised solo piano concerts, and she will contribute to Piano Day 2026. In addition to the Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Margaux has performed at a number of festivals around Europe, such as: Stockholm Jazz Festival, Portallegre Jazz Festival (Portugal), Causa Efeito (Portugal), N:Ear festival (Slovakia), Willisau Jazz Festival (Switzerland), and others. She is also a member of the artist-run label and collective ILK in Copenhagen.Funded by: Art Music Denmark, Københavns Kommune, Nørrebro Lokale Udvalg, Dansk musiker Forbund, Knud Højgaards Fund