Music was in the air - and hearts missed a beat - when one of the world's most expensive pianos was winched aloft as it was delivered to Liverpool Hope University.
The "Steinway D concert grand" was one of a dozen pianos worth a total of almost a quarter of a million pounds that arrived at Liverpool Hope University’s new performing arts centre.
The "D concert grand" - with a price tag of £110,000 - one of the finest instruments in the world and was lifted into the building by a specialist crane before taking its place alongside the others in the state-of-the-art Hope Theatre.
The special delivery confirmed the University’s music department as an ‘All Steinway School’, the second in England and one of only four in the UK, joining an elite group including Royal Holloway College at the University of London, Yale School of Music, New Haven and The Juilliard School in New York.
The delivery comprised of: A Steinway Concert Grand, a Steinway B Grand, 2 Steinway V uprights, 4 Boston UP-126 uprights and 4 Boston UP-118 uprights. Together they represent a £240,000 investment.
All the pianos except the giant Steinway D where delivered via the goods lift with the Steinway D Grand being so big it had to be lifted by a special crane – the only one of its kind in the country. The crane lifted the Concert Grand from the foyer of the new Capstone Building up to the first floor. From there it was taken into the new Hope Theatre which will become its home.
Professor Gerald Pillay, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of Liverpool Hope University said: "This partnership with Steinway sends out a powerful message about the direction that our University is taking. We want to be the best and the only way to do that is to work with the best.
"We look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with Steinway and we also look forward to hearing our students on these magnificent instruments."
Keith Glazebrook of Steinway said: "All-Steinway Schools demonstrate a commitment to excellence by providing their students and faculties with the best equipment possible for the study of music. That is why the only pianos owned by the institutions, from the practice room to the recital hall, are designed by Steinway & Sons."
On Friday 26th March 2010, Joanna MacGregor, the University’s Visiting Professor of Musical Performance, will be the first artist to give a recital on the university’s brand new Steinway D grand piano, the instrument of choice of many of the world’s virtuosi and one of the finest and most expensive pianos in the world.
The University is the Higher Education partner of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and The Capstone building is also home to the European Opera Centre and the music therapy trust, MusicSpace.
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