Every four years, Sydney plays host to one of the world's most prestigious piano competitions - and Kawai Australia has been there since day one.

This year, we'll be tracing the competition pianos, from selection at our hand-crafting Ryuyo facility in Japan, through to the preparation by a master piano artisan flown in for the event, all the way through to the thrilling finals on stage at the Sydney Opera House in July

1. 

    

   The Sydney International Piano Competition is broadcast by ABC Classic. Here's something from their archives to whet your appetite for this year's competition: the magnificent John Chen winning the 2004 competition on the Shigeru Kawai SK-EX concert grand piano. Cilck on the ABC link below: