A tale of two local donations restores a 1973 Limited Edition
Steinway Concert Grand Piano for USF Music Program
TAMPA, Fla. (Dec. 19, 2019) – One donation leads to another. An anonymous donation to the University of South Florida (USF) of a limited edition Steinway & Sons 1973 Indiana Black Walnut Concert Grand Piano in need of refurbishing received the gift of new life thanks to a $35,000 donation from St. Pete-based and International Steinway Artist Rebecca Penneys, founder/director of the acclaimed Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival (RPPF) at USF.
On Sunday, Jan. 19th, the newly refurbished piano by Clearwater based Steinway dealer The Music Gallery and with a replacement value of $247,000, will be unveiled at a special concert hosted by the USF School of Music and featuring Penneys at the USF Concert Hall at 2 p.m.
The newly-acquired unique Steinway instrument matches USF’s commitment to the Steinway brand. In 2011, the USF School of Music became a prestigious All-Steinway School, giving USF faculty and students the opportunity to create music from practice room to stage on exclusively Steinway pianos. The total number, 92 with the new addition of the 1973 Indiana Black Walnut Concert Grand, were all acquired through the exclusive Steinway & Sons dealer of Tampa Bay, The Music Gallery.
WHAT:
Unveiling concert of the Steinway & Sons 1973 Indiana Black Walnut Concert Grand Piano featuring International Steinway Artist Rebecca Penneys
WHEN:
Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020
2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
WHERE:
USF Concert Hall
3755 Holly Drive
Tampa, FL 33620
COST:
$5/student
$10/senior and active military
$15/general admission
Includes post-concert stage preview of the restored Steinway and reception in the USF Concert Hall lobby and meet and greet with USF President Currall, Dr. Cheyenne Currall, (title?) School of Music Director Dr. Karen Bryan, and International Steinway Artist and Pianist Rebecca Penneys
TICKETS:
www.ticketmaster.com or call 813.974.2323. Tickets may also be purchased at the USF Box Office in the School of Music Concert Hall starting Jan. 14th through Jan. 19th.
WHY:
As Rebecca Penneys puts it, ”Steinway is the Rolls Royce of pianos.” An International Steinway Artist for approximately 50 years, Penneys and the USF Music School celebrate Steinway every day. In a combined mission to help promote music and music education in the Tampa Bay area, Penneys and USF also partnered to launch RPPF at USF in 2013, which through the generosity of donors, is a tuition-free gift to aspiring young collegiate pianists worldwide.
About Rebecca Penneys & RPPF
A renowned Steinway Artist, Rebecca Penneys is a recitalist, chamber musician, orchestral soloist, educator, adjudicator, guest artist, keynote speaker and celebrated teacher. For over six decades she has been hailed as a pianist of prodigious talent, performing throughout the USA, East Asia, New Zealand, South America, Europe and the Middle East. She has received extensive recognition for her ability to teach keyboard technique (Motion and Emotion) that allows pianists to achieve individual performance goals without physical strain or injury. In 2013, Penneys launched the non-profit Rebecca Penneys Friends of Piano to support the Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival and RPPF-Mini. Both events, held at USF, are for collegiate pianists and are tuition free.
Penneys is also a current Professor Emerita of Piano at Eastman School of Music, Artist-in-Residence at St. Petersburg College and holds a courtesy position as Steinway-Artist-in-Residence at the University of South Florida, Tampa. Fanfare Magazine (2019) notes, “Penneys playing is nothing short of amazing.” Penneys teachers included Aube Tzerko, Leonard Stein, Rosina Lhevinne, Artur Rubinstein, Menahem Pressler, Gyorgy Sebok, Janos Starker, Josef Gingold, and Iannis Xenakis. For more information, visit www.rebeccapenneys.com.
About Steinway Pianos
For over 160 years, American owned and New York City based STEINWAY & SONS has been dedicated to making the finest pianos in the world. Its pioneering handcrafted methods are still employed today to ensure our uncompromising standards of quality, in turn ensuring that the Steinway remains the peerless instrument of uncompromising expression. Every grand and upright piano is a masterpiece of craftsmanship and a consummate work of art, taking a full year to make one concert grand piano, consisting of more than 12,000 individual parts. Each Steinway is as unique as the performer who plays it. For more information, visit www.steinway.com
About The Music Gallery
Based on Clearwater, Fla., The Music Gallery is a third generation family of piano merchants, with lineages that include technicians, musicians, teachers, directors, vocalists and writers, and authorized dealer for Steinway & Sons Family of Designed Pianos. With a shared passion for music and high quality instruments, our team is committed to sharing the gift of musical journey with people of all ages and backgrounds. For more information, visit themusicgalleryclearwater.com.
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