USA: SMITHSONIAN MUSEUM UNVEILS AN EXHIBIT CELEBRATING THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE PIANO

Record ID: 388936

  • Title: USA: SMITHSONIAN MUSEUM UNVEILS AN EXHIBIT CELEBRATING THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE PIANO
  • Date: 16th March 2000
  • Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (MARCH 8, 2000) (REUTERS) MAN PLAYING THE PIANO FOOT ON PIANO PEDAL FINGERS ON PIANO KEYBOARD STATUE OF ANONYMOUS COMPOSER LIBERACE'S RHINESTONE ENCRUSTED PIANO
  • Embargoed: 31st March 2000 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: WASHINGTON, D.C/NEW YORK, NEW YORK/ VARIOUS LOCATIONS, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA14OIMA3UJF6EHT714IMTR6FVM
  • Story Text: Since its invention 300 years ago, the piano has played its way into the hearts and homes of music lovers around the world.The Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C.unveils an exhibit celebrating the anniversary of the piano and honours several artists for their contribution to American culture and music.
    The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History opens "PIANO 300: Celebrating Three Centuries of People and Pianos", starting Thursday (March 9).
    The Smithsonian chose 1700 as the birth year of the instrument, based on documentation that one was produced by Bartolomeo Cristofori in Florence, Italy.
    Other highlights include an Erard grand piano presented to Prince Albert by Queen Victoria and Liberace's rhinestone-encrusted concert grant piano.
    Patrick Rucker, the Project Director and Co-Curator of the exhibit summarised the significance of the piano, "It is the story of how people have interacted with the instrument, how inventors, piano builders, performers, composers - every stripe of humanity, has interacted and shaped how the instrument has evolved and how we use it in our everyday lives."
    Billy Joel and Dave Brubeck, both piano men, were honoured by the Smithsonian for their contributions to the popularity of the piano.
    The pop composer and the jazz legend were eloquent when they talked about what the instrument had meant in their lives.
    "Three hundred years of pianos I've just seen in this wonderful exhibition, and I hate to admit that some of these old, old ones are part of my youth," the 79-year-old Brubeck said, drawing a laugh.
    Billy Joel's love affair with the famous Steinway pianos began at an early age.
    "The first time I actually got a grand piano, I was in a small apartment, it took up the whole apartment, and all I wanted was that grand piano, a black grand piano, I slept under it for about a week," Joel said at a news conference at the Smithsonian's S.Dillon Ripley Centre.
    Joel mentioned his "association" with the Steinway piano company, which allows him access to better pianos than the first one he played as a child.That association was common for famous piano players, who were used to promote the product.
    Steinway AND Sons, founded in 1853 by Henry Steinway in New York City, remains a testament to individual craftsmanship and considered by many to be the finest piano the world.
    Using time-honoured traditions of craftsmanship, workers slowly and methodically hand-build pianos using special woods and designs to create one of the 5,000 pianos a year worldwide.
    Henry Steinway, 85 and the great grandson of the founder, is proud of the rich history of the instrument and his family's contribution to the classic design.
    "The English started to make them (pianos) in quantities and then it moved to America.And that's when Steinway went to work and developed the modern piano, pretty much as it stands today."
    Steinway is well aware of the importance in maintaining the quality of piano as well as the famous name.
    "We are proud, that they choose the Steinway piano and they wouldn't choose it if they didn't think it was the best because their careers are on the line," said the patriarch of the family.
    From Duke Ellington to Sir Elton John, artists have discovered their favourite styles: Yamaha of Japan, Baldwin of Cincinnati and Steinway & Sons of New York, to name a few.
    Although the basic concept of the piano has remained relatively unchanged for three centuries, the surge in electronic keyboards and experimental action designs may change the look, but not the concept, of the piano over the next century.
    The exhibit, PIANO 300, will be on display until March, 2001.
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