Dranoff 2 Piano Fusion was founded by Loretta Dranoff decades ago as The Murray Dranoff Foundation in honor of her late husband. The organization quickly became synonymous with the renaissance of two piano music and a world-renowned competition. The promotion and expansion of two-piano repertoire continued with the commissioning of works from accomplished composers who have won the Pulitzer Prize, Emmy, Grammy and Academy Awards, including John Corigliano, William Bolcom, Michel Legrand, Gabriela Lena Frank, and Chucho Valdés. After presenting concerts on some of the world’s most esteemed stages from New York to Amsterdam, Dranoff 2 Piano Fusion redirected itself toward a local, multi-cultural approach to engage audiences through innovative performances countywide that feature piano duos in every music style and frequently joined by musicians from Europe, South America, Africa and the Caribbean. It’s annual core programming include Classical Classics, Latin 2 Piano, and West African Beats. Since 2004, the organization has partnered with Miami Dade County Public Schools to develop and implement PIANO SLAM, a transformational performance program for youth that uses music to enhance core subject learning, such as English, math and science, in roughly two dozen Title 1 schools. Through this program, Dranoff has also brought live classical music performances to more than 80,000 middle and high school students. Well over 100,000 students have participated in PIANO SLAM programs overall.
