Welcome to the latest update. After enjoying an extended Indian Summer the days have closed in and the wellies are out for the morning dog walks. As the nights draw in there can be nothing better than whiling away the evenings sat at a piano, a great time of year to find musical inspiration. I always intend to work on some new pieces although I often end up playing the same old favourites and throwing a few chords together for a bit of jazz. I can often be heard in the showroom offering my view that it doesn’t matter what we play, or how good we may or not be, as long as we enjoy playing our pianos. With the average ability and a severe lack of time, this theory is a great comfort to me!
Well, I think the highlight since the last writing was most certainly our open day. As with all of these things you can never really be sure how many folks are going to turn up on the day. I think we sent invites out to around sixty local music teachers that we know well and word also spread around the local piano owning population. It was an awkward time too being right at the end of the summer just before the new school term commenced. Anyway, I am pleased to report that it was a great day, lots of fun and our thanks go to those that did visit and made it such a memorable event. When you get so many musical people under one roof with so many pianos it is always going to be lively. We had pianos being played in all genres, accompanied singing in a classical and contemporary style and even a duet with both! Many local music teachers met each other for the first time and friendships were made, it was fantastic. In fact, that side of it was so good to see that we are thinking of having a social day at the showroom just for music teachers to come in and meet like-minded professionals. We are also hosting a gathering of piano teachers in October organised by the wonderful Vanessa Martin if you would like to join this group send us an email and we’ll put you in touch with Vanessa. The aim of these meetings is to share ideas and experiences around subjects chosen for discussion, for example how to help with sight-reading, and also to enjoy meeting and socialising with other teachers. For those of you that couldn’t make the open day Michelle and I would be really pleased to welcome you over another time to see out improved showroom and selection of pianos.
As I write this I am looking forward to a visit tomorrow from Chris at Bluthner Pianos. I am delighted to report that we have recently purchased three Ronisch upright pianos to add to our stock, two are already in the showroom with one other model still in production in Germany. Ronisch started producing high quality pianos in Germany in 1845, in recent times the company was merged with Bluthner pianos and production continued at the Bluthner piano factory in Leipzig. During my visit to the Bluthner factory last year I was able to see the manufacturing of Ronisch pianos and talk to the workers and staff. I was really impressed with the quality of the manufacturing and the musical character of the pianos, they are an excellent addition to our stock with an distinct personality to compare against other instruments. It has also to be said that the factory workers were not that impressed with my German language skills
September has been a quieter month at the showroom apart from the excitement of the open day! The Kawai GL10 baby grand has been the most popular piano this month with three going out to various homes. The GL10 is, without doubt, the finest piano in its class and superb value for money, no wonder that it is popular! The Kawai digital pianos have been well received too with an encouraging number of customers visiting us for advice and guidance on the pros and cons of digital versus acoustic. I have really enjoyed these conversations, in some cases, the digital has been the best option, in others a digital with a view to an acoustic upgrade in the future and others where an acoustic piano was really needed to help with the musical progression of the player. All in all, I am really pleased to have the Kawai digitals in and we are getting to know the models that sit well in our business.
As ever, tuning has been really busy. The school pianos have all been tuned up ready for the new term and our diaries are fully booked going into what is traditionally the busy season. I will sign off this update as I always do, inviting you all to visit the showroom, just send an email and we’ll arrange your visit. The vibrant feel around the business that I mentioned in the last update is still there and we are keen to share it with as many of you as we can.
Best, Ben
