When Yaara Tal and Andreas Groethuysen first met while studying at the Musikhochschule in Munich, each one of them was preparing to launch a career as a solo pianist. The better they became acquainted with one another, however, the more they were certain that they wanted to make music together. For the past 37 years, the husband-and-wife-team has remained one of the most exciting, tonally brilliant piano duos on the international scene. Doesn’t it feel “too stupid” to play on only one half of a grand piano keyboard? A journalist once asked that question. “It’s not stupid at all!,” Yaara Tal protested. Andreas allowed himself to add: “Particularly in four-hand piano with one’s spouse, making music together acquires an additional erotic component. The pleasure you feel in creating sounds together is a special kind of experience.” Yaara Tal and Andreas Groethuysen will now be sharing that pleasure with the Ruhr Piano Festival audience for the 17th time, and the Festival will thank them for their faithful commitment by awarding them the 2022 Festival Prize!