Johan
Sandback

Johan Sandback is a Swedish pianist, concert producer and music publisher based in Stockholm. His professional work spans classical music performance, education, publishing and digital media.

He studied piano performance and pedagogy at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, combining classical piano and chamber music with jazz piano studies under Ove Lundin. At the Royal Academy of Music in London, he devoted two years to refining his artistry as a solo pianist under Professor Aaron Shorr. In 2002, he earned the Academy’s Diploma of Postgraduate Performance in Pianoforte with Merit and won the prestigious Christian Carpenter Piano Recital Prize.

While studying in London, Sandback founded pianoforum.net in 2001. Originally an international discussion forum for pianists, it evolved into Piano Street in 2005 as he conceived and built a digital publishing platform for classical piano. Today, it brings together a library of more than 3,900 piano works, recordings, educational resources and an international community of musicians. Among his original developments are the Audiovisual Study Tool (AST), connecting musical scores with selected performances, and Piano Street’s Instructive Editions, combining professionally edited scores with detailed practice guidance. The platform also publishes Piano Street Magazine and operates an International Media Exchange with music publications around the world.

Alongside his publishing work, Sandback has continued to perform as a soloist and chamber musician, with particular interests in music for piano and strings and works by Greek composers. His 2024 solo programme In a Landscape brought together classical piano repertoire, sound and video art. He also performed in a 2021 Stockholm concert commemorating the bicentenary of Greek independence, broadcast by the Hellenic Parliament’s television channel in 2023. He performs regularly with Orfeas, Stockholm’s Greek choir.

In 2014, Sandback co-founded Piano Visions with pianist and professor Stefan Bojsten. Beginning with a concert series at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm, the organisation has since expanded to include concerts and educational programmes in several Swedish cities. He also co-founded Grekisk Konstmusik i Sverige (GKiS) and established Stockholm’s Greek Art Music Festival in 2015. In 2023, he and mezzo-soprano Katerina Roussou were recognised with the Grand Prize of the Friends of the Swedish Institute at Athens for their work with GKiS.

His work in recorded music includes three albums released through Op 111 Productions: Alma Brasiliera (2017), Schubert’s Winterreise (2020) and Avant-garde Mélodique (2024). He also co-founded Kulturmolnet, working with concert filming, recording and livestreaming of cultural events. His audiovisual work includes an eight-year collaboration with Judisk Kultur i Sverige, providing video projection and documentation for concerts, lectures and cultural programmes.

Sandback has served as treasurer of EPTA Sweden, the Swedish Piano Teachers Association, since 1999. He founded the association’s publication Svenska Pianobulletinen and continues to contribute to its editorial activities. His work in piano education also includes teaching, workshops and lectures exploring digital tools and the artistic use of visual media in music education.