The International Piano Festival, sponsored exclusively by Instituto Cultural Vale, is continuing the tradition established by the BNDES International Piano Competition, between 2009 and 2016, in its mission to train and encourage young pianists of all nationalities. With its scholarships, training opportunities for piano tuners and donations of study pianos, it changed the Brazilian music scene and brought encouragement to the careers of talented young pianists such as Fabio Martino, Leonardo Hilsdorf, Ronaldo Rolim, Daniel Ciobanu, Daria Kiseleva, Dmitry Shishkin, and many others who went on to achieve outstanding success in the international music scene. This year’s edition celebrates initiatives that, like this festival, recognise Brazil’s importance in nurturing pianists of the calibre of Nelson Freire (honoured in this edition), Jacques Klein, Guiomar Novaes, Magda Tagliaferro, Anna Stella Schic, Antonieta Rudge, Iara Bernetti, and many others who have left an invaluable artistic legacy for Brazilian culture.