Proud to announce the ‘little piano project’ - Ridley Academy - I started 7 years ago, teaching adults how to play piano, just got a Global Recognition Award!!!

40,000 students. 70 countries. It’s an amazing team working together as a real group that has made this happen.

I’m so proud of everybody involved.
I wanted to copy and paste what they wrote below.

Our independent judging panel has awarded you the Global Recognition Award for exceptional achievement.

The selection process is highly competitive. Of the 15,000 entrants each year, Ridley Academy has been recognized with the 2026 Global Recognition Award, and the honor reflects a body of work that has changed how tens of thousands of people around the world approach the piano. Its founder, Stephen Ridley, built a curriculum around emotional expression rather than dense theory, and that decision has produced measurable results across a genuinely global student base. The award falls under the Innovation category, since the academy's t...