Performers of various shanties gathered round piano (9)
I believe the answer is:
thespians
'performers' is the definition.
(thespian is a kind of performer)
'various shanties gathered round piano' is the wordplay.
'various' indicates an anagram.
'gathered round' is an insertion indicator.
'piano' becomes 'p'.
'shanties' with letters rearranged gives 'thesians'.
'thesians' placed around 'p' is 'THESPIANS'.
'of' is the link.
(Other definitions for thespians that I've seen before include "players" , "Actors" , "They may perform in front of scenery" .)