Concert grand: the Croydon schoolboys received much praise for their performances in Milan
Two Trinity School pupils were given the opportunity of a lifetime after being invited to perform at the internationally renowned Milan Piano City festival.
Isaac Rogers and Ben Abraham, sixth formers who are both Trinity-Steinway Scholars, travelled to Italy to take part in the festival, which saw 276 piano concerts staged across Milan over three days this month.
Working in collaboration with Steinway and Sons, Milan Piano City transforms the city into a huge musical stage, with performances taking place everywhere from art and design studios to outdoor piazzas, parks and subway stations.
As holders of the Trinity-Steinway Scholarship, Rogers and Abraham were invited to perform in Steinway’s new recording studio Officina-440 and the elegant Studio Irvine.
The pupils delivered outstanding solo recitals to enthusiastic audiences. Abraham performed works by Rachmaninoff, Bach/Busoni and Liszt, finishing with a jazz improvisation encore, while Rogers’s programme featured Haydn, Mendelssohn, Debussy and Ravel, concluding with a lively Kapustin encore.
Tram journey: pianist pupils Isaac Rogers (right) and Ben Abraham in Milan
Rogers said: “Playing in Milan during Piano City was one of the most amazing experiences. The venues were beautiful and the audiences so friendly and encouraging. It’s something I shall never forget.”
And Abraham added: “What an incredible few days we had in Milan Piano City. Playing concerts as part of this amazing festival has truly inspired me and it’s made it my absolute career focus. It was so great meeting so many other great musicians and the audiences were just amazing.”
Head of Piano at Trinity School, Richard Evans, said: “We are enormously proud of Ben and Isaac. To be invited to perform at a festival of this international standing is a remarkable achievement and reflects both their exceptional talent and their dedication to music-making. They represented Trinity superbly and embraced every aspect of this unforgettable experience.”
The Trinity-Steinway Scholarship programme supports talented young pianists, providing opportunities for advanced performance in collaboration with Steinway UK, mentoring and musical development with the Royal College of Music as well as access to the school’s world-class Steinway Suite practice facilities.
PAID ADS: To advertise your services or products to our 10,000 weekday visitors to the site, as featured on Google News Showcase, email us inside.croydon@btinternet.com for our unbeatable ad rates
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
As featured on Google News Showcase
- Our comments section on every report provides all readers with an immediate “right of reply” on all our content. Our comments policy can be read by clicking here
ROTTEN BOROUGH AWARDS: In January 2026, Croydon was named among the country’s rottenest boroughs for an EIGHTH time in nine years, in Private Eye magazine’s annual round-up of civic cock-ups
- Inside Croydon is a member of the Independent Community News Network
