In March 2011, Roland debuted its groundbreaking V-Piano Grand to U.S. audiences with two sold-out concerts at prestigious musical performance centers on the West and East Coasts, ushering in a new era in the long history of the piano. Performing on the instrument for its premiere were top contemporary jazz artists David Benoit and Brian Culbertson and respected classical pianist Yana Reznik.

The first concert was held in Los Angeles on March 23, 2011, at Zipper Concert Hall at The Colburn School, located in the heart of L.A.’s downtown Music Center. One week later, on March 31, the V-Piano Grand was spotlighted at The Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse at New York City’s world-renowned Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

Powered by the latest advances in Roland’s award-winning V-Piano technology, the V-Piano Grand takes the digital piano to unparalleled heights, with sound quality and responsiveness that stands alongside the world’s finest acoustic grand pianos. The product of over 10 years of research and development, the instrument brings together remarkably detailed modeling, flexible sound customization options, an ultra-sensitive PHA III Ivory Feel Keyboard, and a cutting-edge multi-channel sound system, all housed in a gorgeous grand piano case.

The venues chosen for the premiere events regularly host high-profile piano concerts and recitals featuring top classical pianists from around the globe. These intimate spaces are renowned for their excellent acoustic properties, where audiences can enjoy the rich sounds of a fine piano in its natural state without any external amplification. For its debut, the performers and audience experienced the “stringless” V-Piano Grand just as they’d hear an acoustic grand piano in the venue, with all sounds coming from the instrument itself. Via its complex internal sound system, the V-Piano Grand produces a multi-dimensional, spatial sound that authentically replicates the strings, soundboard, and even the audible hammer strikes of a real acoustic grand.

To show off the amazing capabilities of the V-Piano Grand, the concerts featured demanding piano music that typically relies on the expressive sound and supreme responsiveness of fine acoustic instruments. Yana Reznik played first, performing two solo pieces by Franz Liszt. Next, a three-piece chamber group comprised of violin, viola, and cello accompanied her on a piece by Johannes Brahms.

Ms. Reznik, who has performed in the past at both Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York, and The Colburn School and Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, is extremely impressed with the V-Piano Grand. “I'm used to playing acoustic instruments, but after five minutes, I literally forgot that I was playing something that was plugged into the wall,” she said. “It's so easy to play. It does all the colors that you want. It's very responsive, and it's just a lot of fun.”

Additionally, her choice of music by Liszt, born 200 years ago, made a statement about using the V-Piano Grand and its modern technology to move piano performance forward. “He was the innovator of the recital as we know it now for classical music, where you have the pianist on stage and nothing else,” she related. “For 200 years, we've been doing the exact same thing. And now it's my privilege to step in and play some Liszt in the new way. I'm very anxious to see other classical musicians try this and step into the future with us.”

Next up were Benoit and Culbertson, who performed duets together in addition to playing solo pieces from their latest albums and past catalogs. For the duets, two V-Piano Grands were positioned opposite each other in traditional piano duo style. Saxophonist Mindi Abair and longtime Benoit bassist David Hughes accompanied them both at various times throughout the shows. Culbertson also played trombone on one number, and the three string players joined them all for the rousing finale.

Between songs at the concerts, Culbertson shared high praise for the V-Piano Grand. Speaking for both himself and Benoit, he called it “just an unbelievable instrument” and “really leaps and bounds beyond anything else that's ever come out.”

Benoit went on to detail the subtleties of the new instrument for the audience: “It's all coming out here: there are no mics. There's a lot to it, more than you might even see. There are speakers that mimic the sound of the hammers. There's a real soft pedal; it actually changes the whole character of the sound, as it would on a regular piano with the una corda pedal, which changes from three strings to two strings. There was really a lot of thought put into [the V-Piano Grand]. This is modeling technology—it's not sampling, it's something new, and [Roland engineers] know exactly how to capture the sound.”

The concerts also marked the first time that the popular jazz pianists performed onstage together, and both felt that the level of dynamic interplay necessary wouldn’t have been possible with any other digital instrument. “At first, we were sort of nervous about doing something like this, just a solo piano thing, using [digital pianos],” said Culbertson. “We were both saying we couldn’t have done a show like this with older technology. We can play subtleties, we can play it loud, we can play it soft—we can really play everything with [the V-Piano Grand]. That’s just amazing.”

For more information on the V-Piano Grand, click here.