Music school enjoys grand gesture

COLIN SMITH/The Nelson Mail

NOTE OF THANKS: Nelson School of Music piano teacher Sarah Lewis plays the school's new Steinway concert grand piano, watched by school manager Frances McElhinney. The piano has been donated by Jocelyn and Murray Sturgeon of Nelson.

Relevant offers

The look of sheer joy on Sarah Lewis' face summed up the atmosphere at the Nelson School of Music yesterday, as the school unwrapped its brand new Steinway grand piano.

"It's wonderful," Mrs Lewis said after tickling the piano's sparkling ivories for the first time. The music teacher said the sound on the school's old Steinway was beautiful, but it sounded like it was "a bit under water", compared with the new piano.

The new Steinway, shipped directly from the Steinway factory in Hamburg, Germany with a replacement value of $225,000, was donated to the school by Nelson businessman Murray Sturgeon and his wife, Jocelyn.

Mr Sturgeon is the managing director of Nelson Pine Industries, but the donation was made privately. The Sturgeons are long-term supporters of the Nelson School of Music.

Mr Sturgeon said he heard the school was launching a fundraising campaign to replace its old Steinway grand piano last year and after thinking about it "for about 40 seconds" offered to take over the trust.

"Jocelyn and I thought it would be a nice thing to do for the school and the region."

He said he arranged for the purchase of the Steinway through an agent in Auckland, and organised a selection date in Hamburg on November 23. Each Steinway was handcrafted and had a variation in its tone so was usually handpicked for the place where it would be played.

Mr Sturgeon said he approached London-based Australian pianist Piers Lane to choose the piano he thought would best suit the Nelson School of Music auditorium's acoustics.

"He's a maestro and he comes here from time to time."

Mr Sturgeon said he and Jocelyn were also able to attend the selection process, to choose from 30 pianos at the Steinway factory in Hamburg, which he described as a "most memorable occasion".

Mr Lane chose three pianos and the third "just seemed built for the School of Music", he said.

Nelson School of Music manager Frances McElhinney said the school had been preparing to embark on a two-year fundraising project before the Sturgeons' offer.

Mrs McElhinney said the piano would be "broken in and softened up" during the next couple of weeks before the public unveiling at its first concert on March 17 with Dame Malvina Major, Tim Beveridge and school of music patron Michael Houstoun.

Mrs McElhinney was excited that the piano was to be used last night for a rehearsal of the choir in which Mrs Sturgeon was a member.

Feedback from those who had heard the piano or played it yesterday had been amazing, she said. The school's piano tuner said the new instrument was delightful and playing it felt like being "dipped in chocolate".

"We all had a tear in our eye."

The school's old Steinway has gone to Auckland to be restored and sold, with proceeds going towards the purchase of the new Steinway.

- © Fairfax NZ News