Long Island trance fans, your guy just went classical. And he won.
Armin van Buuren has taken the 2026 Edison Klassiek public prize for “Piano,” his first-ever acoustic album. The Edisons are the Netherlands’ best-known music awards, and this one is decided by a public vote.
- What
- Edison Klassiek 2026 public prize (Publieksprijs)
- Winner
- Armin van Buuren, for the album “Piano”
- When
- Announced Oct. 29 on Dutch TV (NPO 1’s “Eva”)
- The album
- 15 piano pieces, released November 2025, 18 million-plus streams
- Also new
- “What If I Told You” with Douwe Bob, out now on Armada Music
A trance story with a twist
Look at who he beat. The nominees included Lang Lang, Ludovico Einaudi, Joep Beving, the Jussen brothers and cellist Anastasia Kobekina. That’s real classical royalty.
Armin found out live on air. “Never did I think I would win an Edison Klassiek for my ‘Piano’ album but I just got surprised by it on live TV,” he said.
The album traces back to 2018, when pianist Geronimo Snijtsheuvel started giving Armin piano lessons. The two co-wrote the record together.
It’s Armin’s third Edison. His first two, in 2006 and 2020, came in the Dance category.
And he isn’t slowing down on the dance floor either. This week, he also released “What If I Told You” with Dutch singer-songwriter Douwe Bob, who represented the Netherlands at Eurovision 2016. The pair debuted it live at Amsterdam Music Festival on Oct. 24. Armin says it brings back some of the feeling of “This Is What It Feels Like.”
We’ll get it on the air. Keep it locked to WLIT.FM.
Source: We Rave You, We Rave You. Photo: Vitaliy from Kharkiv, Ukraine / CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
