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our bösendorfer
Following several years in storage, we are delighted that our magnificent Bösendorfer concert-grand piano has returned to Haddington and is now housed in St Mary's Parish Church. Once again at the heart of our Music Close Up seasons, a magnet for visiting pianists, it is also available for community use. For enquiries about using the piano please contact our chair, John Finch: [email protected].
In September 2005, after a year-long fundraising campaign and with the help of a Scottish Arts Council Lottery Grant augmented by generous donations from local music lovers, a dream came true for Haddington Concert Society when a magnificent Bösendorfer concert-grand piano was delivered to the Town House, Haddington, the artistic home of the Society, where the Georgian Assembly Room upstairs provides the ideal location for the Society’s chamber music concerts.
As the 'Scotsman' reported at the time, the Society ”aimed high, wanting the best”. The piano had been on loan to one of the world’s famous concert halls, the Brahmssaal of the Musikverein in Vienna, where it was played by many of the world’s leading pianists, including Andras Schiff who was interested in buying it. But James Cameron of Edinburgh Piano Company had made a prior pitch for Haddington, and to Haddington it was duly delivered, amid much fanfare and excitement.
The following April, to celebrate the piano’s acquisition and to make the most of its superb qualities, the Society held a gala piano recital at which the celebrated British pianist John Lill performed, a thrilling occasion that firmly set the seal on the piano’s reputation and the ambitious standards for which the Concert Society is well known. For the following thirteen years, each April a pianist of international renown was invited to Haddington to play the Bösendorfer – from Hungary, Denes Varjon; from Serbia, Aleksandar Madzar; from the Netherlands Ronald Brautigam: from Canada, Valerie Tryon; the Russians Nikolai Demidenko and Denis Kozhukhin, Cypriot Martino Tirimo, Bulgarian Nadejda Vlaeva, Australian Leslie Howard, and from closer to home Martin Roscoe and the Scottish-born Steven Osborne – each one an outstanding concert pianist at home in the performing halls of the great cities of Europe who relished the opportunity to play the Society’s piano in the intimate setting of the Town House where the proximity of the audience adds a special atmosphere for the pianist as well as for the audience, who seldom have the opportunity to witness performances of this quality at such close quarters. The excitement at these occasions was palpable.
But the piano is much more than a celebrity showcase. At the time of the purchase, the Society promised that it would become an integral part of East Lothian’s cultural life, readily available for community use. Since then the piano has been used on hundreds of occasions by numerous local organisations and individuals, as well as playing an important role in the Society’s own concerts. It is used regularly for piano examinations and at the annual East Lothian Schools Piano Festival. In addition, for many years the Society held an “Open Piano” event on Doors Open Day, when local pianists, young and old, amateur or professional, could go along to the Town House and play the piano, an opportunity that was relished by a growing number of people each year. It is particularly thrilling to see and hear young children sit down at the keyboard and hear the lovely sounds they (and the piano) can make. As one music lover noted, the Bösendorfer has become “the people’s piano”.
In September 2005, after a year-long fundraising campaign and with the help of a Scottish Arts Council Lottery Grant augmented by generous donations from local music lovers, a dream came true for Haddington Concert Society when a magnificent Bösendorfer concert-grand piano was delivered to the Town House, Haddington, the artistic home of the Society, where the Georgian Assembly Room upstairs provides the ideal location for the Society’s chamber music concerts.
As the 'Scotsman' reported at the time, the Society ”aimed high, wanting the best”. The piano had been on loan to one of the world’s famous concert halls, the Brahmssaal of the Musikverein in Vienna, where it was played by many of the world’s leading pianists, including Andras Schiff who was interested in buying it. But James Cameron of Edinburgh Piano Company had made a prior pitch for Haddington, and to Haddington it was duly delivered, amid much fanfare and excitement.
The following April, to celebrate the piano’s acquisition and to make the most of its superb qualities, the Society held a gala piano recital at which the celebrated British pianist John Lill performed, a thrilling occasion that firmly set the seal on the piano’s reputation and the ambitious standards for which the Concert Society is well known. For the following thirteen years, each April a pianist of international renown was invited to Haddington to play the Bösendorfer – from Hungary, Denes Varjon; from Serbia, Aleksandar Madzar; from the Netherlands Ronald Brautigam: from Canada, Valerie Tryon; the Russians Nikolai Demidenko and Denis Kozhukhin, Cypriot Martino Tirimo, Bulgarian Nadejda Vlaeva, Australian Leslie Howard, and from closer to home Martin Roscoe and the Scottish-born Steven Osborne – each one an outstanding concert pianist at home in the performing halls of the great cities of Europe who relished the opportunity to play the Society’s piano in the intimate setting of the Town House where the proximity of the audience adds a special atmosphere for the pianist as well as for the audience, who seldom have the opportunity to witness performances of this quality at such close quarters. The excitement at these occasions was palpable.
But the piano is much more than a celebrity showcase. At the time of the purchase, the Society promised that it would become an integral part of East Lothian’s cultural life, readily available for community use. Since then the piano has been used on hundreds of occasions by numerous local organisations and individuals, as well as playing an important role in the Society’s own concerts. It is used regularly for piano examinations and at the annual East Lothian Schools Piano Festival. In addition, for many years the Society held an “Open Piano” event on Doors Open Day, when local pianists, young and old, amateur or professional, could go along to the Town House and play the piano, an opportunity that was relished by a growing number of people each year. It is particularly thrilling to see and hear young children sit down at the keyboard and hear the lovely sounds they (and the piano) can make. As one music lover noted, the Bösendorfer has become “the people’s piano”.
