This Sunday, March 18 at 4:00 pm, Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta presents: Benefit Concert for Jamaica. Many top local artists will be performing on the Bosendorfer Imperial in the sanctuary. Afterwards, a freewill offering will send a piano to the Salvation Army School for the Blind. The featured artists include Stan Whitmire, Joel Martin, Daniel Solberg and young Yannie Tan.
Yannie is an artist we have watched grow with great interest as one of our customers. We hope you can come out and make this event successful!
The two companies of C. Bechstein Pianofortefabrik Berlin/Germany and Hailun Ningbo, China signed a wide-ranging cooperation agreement in October 2011. Hailun is successfully operating for over 20 years in the Chinese market.??The first ongoing step a quality management system for production introduced by German specialists of Bechstein the Chinese partner of Hailun. Mid 2012 aims for there set forth and shipping prüften instruments of brand HAILUN a seal of quality “Bechstein Quality System” will be awarded. The principle for the started cooperation includes an absolutely clear, unambiguous independence of both companies and thus also an independent production and distribution structures for each partner. The exchange of technical knowledge, training of Chinese professionals, as well as cooperation in the field of product development are at the for further steps.
*translated from original press release by Microsoft translator.
PianoWorks has recently expanded its digital piano department. Our goal is to offer great selection and the best prices from top brands like Roland, Yamaha & Casio. We have a new Digital Piano Specialist to lead our educated staff, and we will patiently guide you to your best choice. We don’t sell toy keyboards – all digital pianos at PianoWorks feature fully weighted, 88-keys and support pedals, making these teacher approved! And if you are shy or want to play privately, these also support headphones. Visit us to learn more about the wide array of options, features, and most importantly…a nice environment to try them out.
Our new Digital Piano Specialist is Derek Vann. He is experienced with digitals and keyboards and can communicate to you the difference between graded hammer actions, layers & splits, duet modes, polyphony, and ensemble functions in a way that is useful. He’s also a talented pianist and composer, willing to demonstrate to non-players just starting out.
At PianoWorks, the digital pianos we offer are always pianos first, but the variety of helpful features available will help you explore your musical creativity. We have Roland’s with full accompaniment options, Casio’s with hundreds of sounds and tempos, and a Yamaha with lesson software built-in!
The prices are clearly marked, we have a variety of styles and colors, and the prices are usually better than advertised on our website! Amazon isn’t the only place to get a great price. We have 16 models ranging from $499 to $2499!
We also have amazing digital grand pianos like this Roland RG-1F (but they are more than $2,499).
Newly added to PianoWorks’ impressive lineup of piano brands is Seiler. Since 1849, Seiler has represented amazing quality and value in pianos. We now carry pianos from their traditional SE-series as well as their new ED-series. This new partnership means new, high-value choices for Atlanta’s deserving audience. Visit us today to try these exciting new pianos!
NAMM is the biggest music industry trade show in the world. Held annually in January, NAMM will attract 100,000 manufacturers, dealers and musicians for every music category. From accordians to zithers, microphones to stage lighting and, of course Pianos, NAMM is where new products are demonstrated and the business of music gets done. For several years now, my favorite booth has been the Estonia Piano booth where Dr. Indrek Laul has created an oasis of relaxing chairs and relaxed smiles that make business a pleasure and attract scores of great musicians to stop by and just play.
This year, Dr. Laul brought his family, making it the first NAMM for his two young boys. NAMM is also just down the street from Disneyland, so no convincing was required. This delightful family of musicians has successfully made it their business also.
Indrek with his boys
I coaxed Indrek’s wife, Triin-Maret Laul, into playing for us.
Indrek with new friend Rob Mullins and old friend Frank Baxter.
Indrek and Rebecca prepared some duets.
Estonia L190 Grand Piano in Pyramid Mahogany finish.
I captured this video while at the booth of just a few of the musical guests and also Indrek, his wife Triin-Maret and later a duet with his son, Bruno.
We had fun last Saturday night. We had a full house and even some dancing in the aisles. With any luck, last Saturday’s concert will inspire some in our community to pursue music with more energy and enthusiasm. Looking out among the crowd, I saw our hall filled with musicians, teachers, parents and many children and every seat was full.
Our first performer of the night was Larry Barker. Larry is a elementary school music teacher here in Gwinnett County. His performances were all about energy and emotion, speaking his own words through jazz. His inspiration was from greats like Oscar Peterson, Count Basie, Vince Guaraldi and Michel Petrucciani.
Our second performer of the night was Julie Ye. Julie has her own piano studio and teaches locally. Her performances we about expression and ideas from great classical composers. Her inspiration was from Bach, Beethoven, Greig and Mendelssohn.
After the concert, we completed our PianoWorks & Hailun USA Free Piano Giveaway by drawing for our grand prize winner. In attendance was Lauren Wallace, VP of Hailun USA who drew the name of the lucky winner. Local piano teacher Stephanie Freemen was chosen to win a brand new Hailun professional upright piano. That’s quite a prize.
By all measures, our concert was a great success. We look forward to more fun events in the coming months that you wil not want to miss.
Last Thursday, PianoWorks was greeted by a surprise visitor. Perhaps not a total surprise, but we had only 4 days to prepare for Mr. Hailun Chen of Hailun Pianos. We were also joined by May Wang, Hailun’s Vice President of Exports, and a small cadre of business attorneys. He’s preparing for an IPO in China, I’m pleased to say his visit to our showroom will have played a small role in the future growth of Hailun Pianos worldwide. Though not pictured, we were also visited by Lauren Wallace, Vice President of Hailun USA. When possible, several of our customers made a point to attend and meet the chairman and founder.
The performers for our upcoming event, End of Summer, Back to Piano Concert, also stopped by. Larry Barker and Julie Ye join Hailun Chen in front of the chosen instrument, a 7’2″ Hailun model 218 semi-concert grand piano. This Free concert is Saturday, August 20 @ 6:00 pm.
I was most delighted to see customers that most recently purchased new Hailun grand pianos. We took the opportunity to request that Mr. Chen autograph their chosen pianos for these fortunate customers. David & Peggy McCleskey selected a Hailun grand piano for the Gwinnett Hospital Extended Care Center (part of Gwinnett Medical Center) to bring joy to the many patients and their long days of treatment. The McCleskey’s gave this generous gift of music, including a self-playing system on the piano.
The Williams family also selected a Hailun grand piano to nurture the musical education of their son. I learned that these were the first ever requests to sign customer pianos for Hailun Chen. Looking back, this will mark a great day for those able to attend.
In our business, we often have the opportunity to meet with the people responsible for our fine pianos. It is rare, however, to host one of the world’s larger manufacturers in our showroom. Hailun Pianos is not only an important manufacturer, but they are also growing. We thank everyone for attending.
Go ahead and mark your calendars. PianoWorks is presenting a End of Summer, Back to Piano Concert later this month. We are all accostomed to the Back-to-School season with an emphasis on preparation and enthusiasm for the coming school year. This free piano concert should energize an inspire all who attend for another year of piano playing. We would love to see new and returning students, teachers, and piano enthusiasts of all types. And there is something for everybody with both Classical and Jazz performers.
Follow this link to the Concert Program.
It’s August 1st, our annual opening day for all area piano teachers who wish to book recital time at our hall for the following year, Spring 2012. Over the years, PianoWorks performance hall has become not only popular, but important in the local community as the premier recital venue in Atlanta. Our hall, which regularly seats 120, is always outfitted with world class concert grand pianos. Performers enjoy the intimate setting, the friendly atmosphere, and the terrific acoustics. August 1st is all about booking that time slot.
(PianoWorks parking lot, August 1, 2011 9:00 am – FULL of piano teacher cars. For regular store hours, we open at 10:00 am)
Area teachers have learned to show up early as the most popular times (April & May weekends) go early. Spring Recitals aren’t just in Spring anymore as the seasonal demand now ranges from March to June. Today, PianoWorks opened its doors at 8:30, but some teachers showed up still earlier to take their place in line. Before 10:00 am, 25 teachers had booked their chosen times. PianoWorks offers extended hours from mid-April to mid-June to accomodate nearly 100 recitals, competitions, and auditions during that time.
So book now, plan ahead and keep in mind that some piano teachers have already set their date. We want your events to be the most successful they can be.
**UPDATE** 12:00 pm – We’re just a few hours in and the weekend timeslots in April & May are booked. There are still times available, but you should act now!
In late May, PianoWorks was pleased to welcome nine members of Bosendorfer and Yamaha’s management team to visit our showroom and restoration facility here in Atlanta. Yamaha proudly acquired Bosendorfer Piano Company in 2008 and has slowly and carefully incorporated their distribution management team. Bosendorfer dealers will now have greater access to representatives, to parts supplies, and to Artist services though Yamaha’s larger organization. Among the visitors were Bosendorfer’s current CEO Brian Kemble, the former CEO Yoshichika Sakai, also Bob Heller, Yamaha’s National Sales Director of Piano Division as well as other key members of the distribution team.
[Sam Bennett, Brian Kemble, Don Bennett, Yoshichika Sakai, Masaya Furuta around the Bosendorfer model 280 Concert Grand Piano in PianoWorks’ Recital Hall]
We see a strong future for Bosendorfer in Atlanta, throughout the U.S. and around the world.
We would love to hear from you