Exiting the Mainstream

There is a lot of music out there nowadays.  R&B, Hip-hop, country, rock, pop, and the list goes on and on.  Then there are subdivisions in most if not all of those genres.  I think one genre of music that is almost always overlooked in this modern time is classical.  Yes there is jazz and a lot of people listen to funk and whatnot, but how many people do you know that just listen to Bach or Tchaikovsky (yes I had to look that up)?  Almost no-one.  My parents listened to classical when I was younger.  They still do however my mother has branched out from just classical to some more contemporary styles such as New Age and Spa.  They also listen to more jazz than they used to I think.  One instrument in music that is linked in almost all genres should perhaps have its own place entirely and that instrument is the piano.  What other instrument can play every single note from just one movement?  Except of course for the other instruments in the same family as the piano, namely the harp, harpsichord, and even the hammer dulcimer.  Quick tangent: if you've never heard of a dulcimer go look it up, it's pretty neat.  Anyways back to the piano: apart from being one of my favorite instruments it is able to create so many different styles of music from one instrument.  I think a close second is the guitar, but I think that it takes a lot more skill to play guitar than it does piano.  I think that my favorite style of piano falls into a genre known as New Age.  It is piano music but there are also other instruments added into the mix sometimes including guitar, synthesizer, vocals, and even some brass or other strings.  It is usually a very melodic and even inspirational style of music.  Many times the piano is just playing lilting, sustained notes over top of low, quiet, deep tones.  It is a very moving style of music I think.  There are faster tunes as well, it is not just slow and deep, or ominous music, but is sometimes very bright, bubbly, and racing.  My current favorite song lands in this category.  However another of my favorite songs right now is also in a totally different category of music entirely, but I'll save that for another day.  Here is my current favorite song, followed by a contemporary piano artist:
The Album Leaf, Another Day - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_4sCm3dirs
Goldmund, Malady of Elegance - http://soundcloud.com/_type/sets/goldmund-malady-of-elegance