The evening of 28th February was a special moment in the history of St Mary’s Music School when staff, pupils, donors, alumni and friends gathered to celebrate the addition of the new Steinway Model B piano to the School’s fleet of instruments.
To start the evening Head of Keyboard, John Cameron described how he and Steven Osborne, celebrated concert pianist and former pupil of St Mary’s Music School, set off on a grey day in November to travel to the Steinway factory in Germany. As well as playing on the stages of many world-famous concert halls, Steven regularly chooses pianos for concerts and recordings and has an exceptional ‘ear’ for sonority, so was the ideal companion for the trip.
John said “Our challenge was to choose the best model for the School’s needs from a selection of five Model B’s. On arrival in Hamburg we met with Keith Glazebrook of Steinway & Sons, London who started by taking us on a tour of the factory so we could see the various stages in the build process, from the seasoning sheds, all the way through to final finishing and ‘playing-in’ rooms. What struck me most was the forensic attention to the smallest of details and the huge responsibility given to each craftsperson involved. Very little has changed on the factory floor over the last 150 or so years and much of the original tooling is still used. With each instrument taking 13 months of hand-crafting by a small group of technicians, it’s only natural that each piano emerges with its own character.”
Moving to the Selection Suite, John and Steven played and listened to a range of repertoire, employing different dynamic levels and articulations, alternating between each of the five pianos. Playing a range of pieces from Debussy to Rachmaninov they quickly gravitated to the fourth of the five, knowing that it would be well suited to the acoustics of the Chapel, the venue that would be the Steinway’s immediate home, but also confident that, should the move to the Royal High School proceed, the ‘bigger’ sound of their chosen instrument would be well suited to the acoustics of one of the two 100-seater large recital rooms.
John continues “I think we have made an excellent choice. We now have an instrument that will be used and appreciated by, not only the School’s pianists and teachers, but by everyone here at St Mary’s Music School, from the youngest pupils at our Saturday Music Classes to our most senior instrumentalists, from our most shy auditionees to the most established visiting artists.”
Having set the scene, the concert began, and with a programe designed to showcase the superb sounds of this flagship piano pupils Fraser, Ruari, Momo, Lola, Susanna, Paula, staff members Richard Beauchamp, Elena Fischer-Dieskau and former pupil Simon Smith delighted the audience with a rich and varied repertoire. From the quiet contemplation of Valentin Silvestrov’s The Messenger played by alumnus Simon Smith to Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in G# minor played by senior pupil Lola and the evocative Brahms Klavierstücke Op.118 Nos. 1-4 played by staff member Elena Fischer-Dieska, the audience remained spellbound throughout. The evening was brought to a rousing finish with Chopin’s Etude Op.25 No.11 Winter Wind played by Fraser.
The concert provided a snapshot of how the Steinway will be used going forward by pupils, staff and visiting musicians in recitals, masterclasses, rehearsals, coaching and lessons. As such it forms an essential part of teaching and learning here at St Mary’s Music School. To enable its purchase, over £100,000 was raised through a match- funded giving campaign which incorporated a special event sponsored by School Director Kat Heathcote and her husband Iain Macneil, Trustees of Witherby Publishing Group Charitable Trust.
Everyone at St Mary’s Music School extends our sincere thanks to all the donors for their contributions towards our new piano and for the additional income raised which will be used to support the School’s Bursary Fund. The new Steinway Model B embodies our mission of access to excellence and will greatly enhance the teaching of our talented pupils.