pianist(n = noun.person) piano player - a person who plays the piano;
is a kind of instrumentalist, musician, player
has particulars: bartok, bela bartok, blitzstein, marc blitzstein, chopin, frederic francois chopin, czerny, karl czerny, falla, manuel de falla, dame myra hess, hess, horowitz, vladimir horowitz, jerry lee lewis, lewis, franz liszt, liszt, ignace jan paderewski, ignace paderewski, paderewski, francis poulenc, poulenc, rachmaninoff, rachmaninov, sergei rachmaninoff, sergei rachmaninov, sergei vasilievich rachmaninoff, sergei vasilievich rachmaninov, anton gregor rubinstein, anton grigorevich rubinstein, anton rubenstein, rubinstein, arthur rubinstein, artur rubinstein, rubinstein, charles camille saint-saens, saint-saens, artur schnabel, schnabel, clara josephine schumann, schumann, rudolf serkin, serkin
Derived form noun piano₁

   A performer, esp. a skilled performer, on the piano. [1913 Webster]

pianist, n. the player of a piano.

Etymology:
F pianiste (as PIANO(1))

N  musician, artiste, performer, player, minstrel, bard, accompanist, accordionist, instrumentalist, organist, pianist, violinist, flautist, harper, fiddler, fifer, trumpeter, piper, drummer, catgut scraper, band, orchestral waits, vocalist, melodist, singer, warbler, songster, chaunter, chauntress, songstress, cantatrice, choir, quire, chorister, chorus, chorus singer, liedertafel, nightingale, philomel, thrush, siren, bulbul, mavis, Pierides, sacred nine, Orpheus, Apollo, the Muses Erato, Euterpe, Terpsichore, tuneful nine, tuneful quire, composer, performance, execution, touch, expression, solmization, playing, musical, adagio, andante.