BECHSTEIN CONCERT
JUNE 23rd 2018
ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST CHURCH, FLEET STREET, COVENTRY, CV1 3AY
7.00
tickets from http://www.umcm.org.uk
St. John the Baptist Church and UMCM are proud to announce a very exciting summer piano recital by international concert pianist, Varvara Maggs, with celebrations on the return of the fully restored historic Bechstein Grand Piano to St. John the Baptist Church in Coventry
The first public performance on the restored piano will be a concert on Saturday June 23rd 2018, the eve of the Feast of St John the Baptist, followed by a party to celebrate its restoration. The Russian concert pianist Varvara Maggs, the international prizewinning performer who gives recitals in the UK and Russia, will be performing music by Liszt, Haydn, Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky.
A partnership between the church and UMCM, Unlock the Music Concert Making, has raised nearly £10,000 for the piano to be repaired by David Hogben of Courtney's of Oxford and restored as closely as possible to its original condition when it first emerged 140 years ago from Bechstein's factory in Berlin.
All sorts of secrets emerged in the process. For instance, the restorers discovered that sometime back in its history, the original rosewood veneer had been painted over with a black lacquer. The piano is being restored to reveal the rosewood. The full history of the piano is not by any means complete. What we do know is that it arrived in Edinburgh in 1880 yet between this date and its arrival in the church some 60 years ago, is a mystery.
This Bechstein Grand Piano secures for St. John the Baptist Church, Coventry a bright musical future. An historic musical instrument fully restored to performance standards is such an important asset to the city's cultural life.
