About the Author

About the Author

Paul Castel-Andrew is a documentary film editor who has put his story telling skills to work on his twin passions - Paris and pianos.

Castel-Andrew wanted to write a book about the many facets of the pianist-composer Frédéric Chopin, but so many books had already been written.

In 2018, Castel-Andrew's wife gave him the gift of a visit to the Domaine Musicale de Petignac for his birthday. Seeing all of Gérard Fauvin's wonderful pianos and witnessing his passion his pianos, gave Paul the idea of writing a book on pianos and not just Chopin.

Castel-Andrew finally decided to focus on writing about Paris when it was known as Pianopolis - the piano capital of the world from 1830-1848. While there is a lot of academic literature on the period, there are few historical biographies written for a general audience. Paul's goal in writing this book is to capture the essence of the times, and bring the key players and their stories to life.

Research started in earnest in the fall of 2018 with several visits to the Richelieu music library in Paris to source documents from the Paris Pianopolis era.

By Christmas 2022 the first draft of the book was finished.

In 2025 the website to promote the book began construction and Castel-Andrew created several short films to compliment the website.

The book, set to launched in 2026, is a dream come true for Castel-Andrew who now looks forward to Paris Pianopolis Part 2 which will focus on the end of the 19th century when Belle Époque Paris became the home to French pianist-composers like Debussy and Ravel who reshaped the piano landscape.