pianists

A former piano prodigy who lost his hand in the war, Naim Rahil, a teenage Syrian refugee, struggles to thrive in America where he finds his life inextricably linked--over time and distance--to another refugee by the perils of history and a single haunting piece of music.

"A reserved Chinese American teen at a Southern performing arts boarding school comes into her own under the tutelage of a glamorous new piano teacher while grappling with her first love, adolescent and academic pressures, and mysterious, personal notes"--Provided by publisher.

"Mahani Teave grew up on Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, one of the most remote islands in the world, where moai statues stand and music is everywhere. When she began taking lessons on the island's only piano, she proved to be a great talent. She left Rapa Nui when she was just nine to continue her music education, wishing she didn't have to leave such a beautiful place to pursue her dreams. She became an internationally acclaimed classical pianist, playing around the world for all kinds of audiences. But her island home kept calling her back. Years later, she returned to Rapa Nui to stay, and with a new dream: to save its environment and culture. She helped create a music and arts school, so that children there could learn music in ways that kept the island's unique traditions alive. Mahani also saw the island's struggles with sustainability issues and pollution from tourism and ocean plastics, so the school was built using of thousands of tires, bottles, and cans in its walls, and incorporates rain barrels, solar panels, and a food garden. Mahani and her team have created an inspiring place that celebrates the land of Rapa Nui and its people"--Provided by publisher.

"They say L?on Delafosse will be France's next great pianist. But despite his being the youngest student ever accepted into the prestigious Paris Conservatory, there's no way an impoverished musician can make his way in 1890s Paris without an outside patron. Young gossip columnist Marcel Proust takes L?on under his wing, and the boys game their way through an extravagant new world. When the larger-than-life Count Robert de Montesquiou-F?zensac offers his patronage, L?on's dreams are made real. But the closer he gets to becoming France's next great thing, the further he strays from his old country life he shared with his family and his best friend F?lix . . . a boy he might love. With each choice L?on makes, he must navigate a fine line between two worlds--or risk losing them both"--Provided by publisher.

"Explore the workings of a grand piano through the eyes of a young musician preparing for recital"--Provided by publisher.

"Part autobiography, part narrative documentary, Alicia [Keys'] journey is revealed not only through her own candid recounting, but also through . . . recollections from those who have walked alongside her. The result is a 360-degree perspective on Alicia's path--from her girlhood in Hell's Kitchen and Harlem, to the process of self-discovery she's still navigating. In [this book], Alicia shares her quest for truth--about herself, her past, and her shift from sacrificing her spirit to celebrating her worth. With the raw honesty that epitomizes Alicia's artistry, [it] is at once an . . . account and a clarion call to readers: to define themselves in a world that rarely encourages a true and unique identity"--Provided by publisher.

"In this sly, surprising, and razor-sharp debut novel, a virtuoso pianist gives up her future as a musician to work at a high-end wellness store in New York City where the pursuit of beauty comes at a staggering cost. Our narrator is the youngest student at the Conservatory. She produces a sound from the piano no one else does, employing a special technique she learned from her parents-also stunningly talented musicians-who fled China in the wake of the Cultural Revolution. But when an accident leaves her parents debilitated, she abandons her future as a pianist and accepts a job at a high-end beauty and wellness store in New York City. Holistik is known for its remarkable products and outrageous procedures: remoras that suck cheap Botox from the body, eyelash extensions made of spider silk, emotional support ducklings bred to imprint on their owners. Every product is ethically sourced and made with nothing but the highest quality ingredients. Our narrator's new job is a coveted one among New York's beauty-obsessed, and it affords her entry into a new world of privilege. She becomes transfixed by Helen-a model, and the niece of Holistik's charismatic owner-and the two strike up a close friendship that hazily veers into more. All the while, Holistik plies our narrator with products that slim her thighs, smooth her skin, lighten her hair, and change her eye color. But beneath these fancy creams and tinctures lies a terrible truth that threatens to consume her. After all, beauty is nothing without ugliness. NATURAL BEAUTY is a piercing, terrifying, and darkly funny debut that eviscerates the beauty and wellness industry, exploring questions of consumerism, self-worth, race, and identity. This propulsive novel takes a world that feels familiar and pushes it to a conclusion that at first might seem jarring, but when we inch closer, settles on us as truth.".

"A picture book biography of Mary Lou Williams, an American jazz pianist and composer who wrote hundreds of compositions, recorded hundreds of songs, and wrote arrangements for Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman, and is an artist often overlooked in the canon of American music because of her gender and skin color"--Provided by publisher.

Written in verse, this biography chronicles about Zhanna Arshanskaya, a young Ukrainian Jewish girl using the alias Anna, whose phenomenal piano-playing skills saved her life and the life of her sister, Frina, during the Holocaust.

"The story of one man's life across generations and historical upheavals: a . . . novel about love, loss, ambition, and resolution"--Provided by publisher.