New Piano For Arts Centre

There is also a lot of discussion about the piano on the Hawthorne Villager and feel free to click there and contriubute to the feedback.

Arts centre to get classic piano

It’s truly one of a kind.

Handmade in a factory in New York City, the Steinway is reportedly the workhorse of the concert stage, or, as others refer to it, the Cadillac of grand pianos.

Comprised of 12,000 parts and covered under 120 patents, the Steinway piano is the standard among concert performers. Soon, one of these collectibles will find a home at the Milton Centre for the Arts.

It will cost the Town about $115,000 for the piece and centre manager Rob Mackay says it’s an investment Milton can be proud of.

“It’s an absolutely great thing for Milton to open a first-class performance hall with a first-class piano in terms of attracting national and international talent,” he said.  Mackay said many performing arts centres possess Steinway pianos.

However, Milton art centre’s pièce de résistance is the only one in the region, with neither the Oakville or Burlington performing art centres owning a Steinway.

“The Milton Centre for the Arts was built for local talent, and I’m sure they’re going to appreciate this,” Mackay said.

“But we hope to also supplement the use of the centre with national and international performers and they’d be requesting the Steinway. I’m sure the local musicians will be ecstatic about it too.”

The Town is purchasing the piano from Toronto’s Remenyi House of Music, Steinway’s exclusive agent in southern Ontario and Atlantic Canada.

Al Kowalenko, Remenyi’s director of institutional sales, said the Steinway is the standard for concert halls in North America.  “I think what’s really beneficial to Milton is that in the area you’re going to be recognized for having this in the concert hall and this will draw a better caliber of touring and performing artists to your town.”

Kowalenko said in addition to  the craftsmanship, the Steinway sets itself apart by appreciating in value as it gets older rather than depreciating.  He said the value of the piano will increase four to five per cent per year.

“They are considered a hand-made collectable item and on top of that there’s a limited number produced,” he said.

About 2,500 models are made in Steinway’s factories in New York City and Hamburg, Germany, which supplies Europe.  Since they’re handcrafted, no two pianos are alike, which is why the company flies North American buyers out to their New York City showroom to personally pick out their own Steinway.

Mackay said a handful of local musicians have been approached about the opportunity and he suspects by the end of the month, one lucky Miltonian will be off to New York to pick the piano with the perfect sound, tone and colour.  

“This piano, if it’s well looked after, will last as long as the building will last,” said Mackay.

It’s not uncommon for Steinways to last 75 to 100 years, he said.  “It’s really a life-long investment.”

Furthermore Christina Commisso added the following detail on the discussion the committee had regarding this purchase.

Questions raised in piano purchase

Some councillors have raised concerns surrounding the purchase of a Steinway piano for the Milton arts centre.

Town council recently approved spending $115,350, plus HST, on the collectible piano through a single-source procurement — a non-competitive purchase.

The purchase was included in a February report presented to council outlining various items the Town is planning to buy with council’s approval.

“I don’t like any single source procurement. What other options were discussed?” asked Councillor Colin Best.

Town treasurer Linda Leeds said looking at alternative suppliers wasn’t possible as Remenyi House of Music is the only authorized dealer that sells the instrument in the area.

Councillor Greg Nelson proposed a motion that would see the piano purchase presented in its own report, separate from the other purchasing variances.

“That’s a sizeable amount of money,” commented Nelson, stating that including it in the purchasing report didn’t provide enough transparency. “To avoid the optics of trying to slide something under the rug, I propose a report that’s transparent and something council can vote on.”

Nelson’s motion was defeated.

Al Kowalenko of Remenyi told the Champion renting a Steinway would cost between $1,500 and $2,000 a night. He said 98 per cent of concert performers request or require a Steinway piano.

A production grand piano can cost between $30,000 and $50,000, said Kowalenko.

Staff said they hope to have the piano in place for the beginning of the fall season.

I was the seconder to Councillor Nelson’s motion that night as we, along with Councillor’s Best and Malboeuf, thought that there could have been more detail in that report for such a large purchase and the amount was over $100,000.00

Curious to look at different options, I did a quick Google search and found a supplier in the GTA who sells refurbished models of the Steinway product and when after I told him the amount of our purchase he replied “Thats outlandish”.

That motion wasnt put in place to kill the purchase of the piano, as we are well aware in order to attract performers to the Arts Centre, we need to have a quality product for them to use.  Rental of the piano was out of the question due to the amount and the time needed for transportation.  Town staff mentioned during the meeting that other options were looked at, but the report lacked in those details.

The Milton Centre for the Arts is slated for opening this fall, and by deferring this report for futher detail would not have placed the deal in jeopardy but would have provided council with more clarity and an assurance that all the I’s were dotted and the T’s crossed.

The motion for deferral was defeated by 6-4 margin and the purchase has gone ahead.  I have no issues about questioning the dollars spent on items such as this, even though the amounts were already in the budget.  The town is under a growth phase and with the coming 2012 budget discussions dollars will have to be found in the operating budget to limit any potential tax increase.  Its what I promised to do if elected and I will continue to do so.