New Grand Piano Unveiled at Inverness Town House

A new grand piano at the Town House, Inverness, is to be launched at a lunchtime recital tomorrow (Friday) by renowned concert pianist Jill Morton, who advised on the selection of the piano.

The Bosendorfer piano cost £31,430, funded by grants to Inverness Chamber Music Society from the Community Programme of Highland 2007, the year when Scotland celebrates Highland culture, and  Inverness Common Good Fund.

It replaces a 103-year-old Bluthner which has been found a good home in the Music Room of Inverness High School.

Provost William Smith, Chairman of the City of Inverness and Area Committee of The Highland Council, said: “We are delighted with the new piano and very pleased that the Inverness Chamber Music Society has agreed that the piano will remain in the Town House.  I have no doubt it will be well used for concerts and other musical events including by young musicians in the Town House.”

Councillor Alison Magee, chair of Highland 2007, said: “It’s wonderful to see Highland 2007 in action already. I’m sure the new Bosendorfer Grand Piano will provide many years of pleasure to all those who play it or who attend one of the many musical events at the Town House.  Highland 2007 isn’t just about next year it is about providing a legacy which will last well into the future and I think this is a prime example.”

Paul Crowe, Secretary of Inverness Chamber Music Society, said: “Jill Morton, who lives near the Bosendorfer’s UK importers in Suffolk, kindly agreed to select the piano, and we are very pleased that Jill, who has performed in the Albert Hall and Festival Hall in London and was awarded Guildhall’s prestigious Concert Recital Diploma, can play at the first recital to launch the new piano.”

The new piano will also receive good use at a wide range of civic functions and will also be used throughout Scotland's Year of Highland Culture 2007, for a programme of free lunch-time concerts presented by talented local pianists.

The first evening piano concert features Professor Kenneth Mackinnon, from Inverness, who is presenting a programme of music by Chopin and Liszt as part of a fund-raising concert for the Highland Hospice on Saturday (7 October). He follows up on Tuesday 10 October with a lunch-time recital comprising works by Schubert. Admission will be by donation to the Inverness Music Festival Association.

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The Chamber Music Society’s first solo piano concert is a joint event with The Highland Council on Wednesday 18 October. Ivan Ilic, a young professional Paris-based American pianist, with a fast-expanding international reputation, performs a programme of works by Haydn, Liszt, Schubert and Rachmaninov, and a world premier by John L King.

 A piano and violin duo, Peter Evans and Ulrike Fenner, follows on Wednesday 15 November. The Edinburgh String Quartet perform on the evening of Thursday 7 December, and the Bell Ensemble present a free lunch-time concert on Friday 8 December,
 
In addition to these classical events, there is a Jazz Guitar lunchtime concert with
John Goldie tomorrow (Thursday), presented by The Highland Council, and an evening of Neapolitan songs with Philip Contini, joined by The Art of Musick, on Thursday 19 October, presented by the Highland Italian Circle.
 
Inverness Chamber Music Society has four further concerts in the new year, including the Carducci/Eimer Piano Trio (16 January) and the Kungsbacka Piano Trio (14 February).

Notes to Editor

Bosendorfer Pianos have been made in Vienna since 1828. The Conservatory Series was developed by the House of Bosendorfer and exclusively built there by master craftsmen.

The wood for the sound board and ribs is spruce grown slowly in the Val di Fiemme in Italy at an altitude of about 1000m where air humidity is relatively low. This region has supplied the wood for the most famous Italian violins for centuries. The piano’s outer rim, sub-frameand sound board form one acoustic unit similar to the construction of a string instrument.
T
he Bosendorfer CS214 in the Town House was selected by Jill Morton who lives near the UK distributor in Suffolk. The piano was supplied by and delivered to the Town
House by Glyn Morris of Moray Firth Pianos who also tuned the piano on its arrival.