Richmond Piano News
Tsunami auction gets $73 million bid for piano
The Associated Press
TOKYO -- Yahoo Japan says a bidder has pledged a staggering $73 million for a crystal piano put up for a tsunami charity auction but has yet to confirm whether it is a serious offer.
Yahoo Japan says it had to suspend the auction for the piano belonging to Yoshiki of heavy metal band X Japan after bids hit 6 billion yen ($73 million) earlier this week.
Yahoo has emailed the bidder to confirm the intention to buy the piano, but said Thursday there has been no response. Yahoo will wait several days before putting it up for auction again.
Yoshiki is among 280 artists, athletes and celebrities who joined the auction to raise money for reconstruction efforts after Japan's earthquake and tsunami left more than 27,000 people dead or missing.
Richmond Piano Says Happy Birthday Schumann
Richmond Piano was proud to provide a beautiful Brodmann Grand Piano for this memorable live performance in the WCVE studio.From the WCVE Radio blog: June 8th marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of Robert Schumann, and we at WCVE Public Radio celebrated with a recital by pianist Joanne Kong and violinist Karen Johnson. The program consisted of Schumann’s Sonata in a minor, Op 105, the third movement from the Fantasie for Piano in C Major, Op 17, the second and third movements from the F.A.E. Sonata and an original arrangement by Kong and Johnson of the very famous Traumeri.
Kong and Johnson are frequent collaborators. Their critically-acclaimed CD of English music, featuring the works of Elgar, Bridge and Vaughan Williams, is available through Brioso Recordings. Our sincere thanks to Joanne Kong and Karen Johnson for sharing their talents with the listeners of WCVE Public Radio. Enjoy a montage of this special recital performance.
A Schumann Celebration from Community Idea Stations on Vimeo.
Heard of The Street Piano Project? No?
Listen to Manny Panta play an upright at Coney Island:
From The Street Piano Project Website: Where did the idea come from? “The idea for Play Me, I’m yours came from visting my local launderette. I saw the same people there each weekend and yet no one talked to one another. I suddenly realised that within a city, there must be hundreds of these invisible communities, regularly spending time with one another in silence. I hoped that by placing a piano into the space acts as a catalyst for conversation. Listening to a BBC world radio service programme, it seems to be working.”
The street pianos project also grew out of a disaster. Sky Orchestra is an performance artwork of mine that involves playing music in surround sound from 7 hot air balloons. Drifing over a city at dawn the aim is to inspire the publics’ imagination as they lie at home in their beds. In 2007 we were commissioned to perform over Birmingham and we’d promised the city council we’d reach an audience of 100,000 people. We all turned up to perform but the MET office got their weather prediction wrong and it was too windy to fly. We had to pay all the pilots and musicians for this failed attempt and had no artwork to show for it. With most of the budget blown, I had to think of a new artwork in just 3 weeks, that would reach 100,000 people. Play Me, I’m Yours is that artwork.
More about the artwork and the journey so far . . . Disrupting people’s negotiation of their city, the pianos are also aimed to provoke people into engaging, activating and claiming ownership of their urban landscape.
The pianos have also levered many hidden musicians from out of the woodwork. It has become apparent that there are hundreds of pianists out there who don’t have access to a piano to play. ‘Play Me I’m Yours’ provides access to musical instruments and provides musicians an opportunity to share their creativity by performing in public. To learn more, visit The Street Piano Project Website.
Richmond Piano Provides Pianos for Richmond Jazz Society
Richmond Piano is pleased to support the Richmond Jazz Society Guest Educator Series by providing pianos for their Capital Ale performances. Upcoming performances are as follows Thursday, June 24: Stephanie Nakasian; Tuesday, July 13: Rudy Faulkner Septet.
Repair & Restoration News
The current economic environment has spurred growth in our repair and restoration business. Rather than buy a new instrument, some individual musicians and institutions are choosing to refurbish or repair their beloved classic. Richmond Piano has been restoring fine pianos in this area for 35 years. We are recognized nationally as expert piano rebuilders and are recommended by a long list of clients.
Where will you see our pianos next?
Richmond Piano supports many local music and arts groups around town. Whether it's providing pianos or tuning services, we look for opportunities to be part of local events. Next time you see a piano just sitting around, ask if it's a Richmond Piano piano.
Remember: Enough about the economy already. We keep our focus on the positive events around us.
Upcoming Events
Stay tuned . . . as we always say.
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