Last weekend we headed into Manhattan for Littleboy 1 to perform in a piano recital. His teacher was holding a private concert for her pupils, and had chosen to hold it in a piano showroom and workshop near Central Park.
Littleboy1 got to perform his pieces (which included The Snowman and I'd Do Anything from Oliver), on a nine foot Steinway in a recording room with the most magical acoustics, after which we had a small reception in the showroom. It transpired that the grand pianos in the showroom, a collection of beautiful Steinways and a few other less well-known brands, are lent out to concert pianists for performances at nearby Carnegie Hall.
As we sipped our wine and chatted to his piano teacher and her (British) boyfriend, we witnessed the most surreal sight of both Littleboys rushing around the showroom, playing all their different pieces manically on the various expensive pianos. At one point they were both banging out "We're Walking In The Air" on two different Steinways (Littleboy 2 has been learning it too).
Bizarrely, no-one seemed to mind; anyone who appeared to work for the showroom either ignored them or beamed in their general direction. We all agreed that this was unlikely to have happened in a similar venue in England.
Whether or not either of our sons becomes a professional concert pianist, I'll definitely take the time to remind them when they're older: you once played on a grand piano that had been played in Carnegie Hall. And not just one, but several.
6 comments:
Awesome!! And yes people are so tolerant of the joy of children here in the US and really they should be pleased and happy young kids are delighted to play. I'm so envious of you, our piano teacher fired us. She said in two years they'd actually gone backwards.
What a fabulous memory - although, I admit, as a parent, I would have been having a heart attack worrying about my boys accidentally damaging a priceless instrument (and having to pay to repair it!) Sounds like a lovely, kid-loving venue!
Just laughing at ALW's comment that they'd been fired by her piano teacher. Bloody cheek.
My Little Guy would kill to play a grand piano - any grand piano, but especially a Steinway. Wow.
Sounds fun. Glad you got photographic evidence.
very cool!
Daft question i am sure but now googlereader is retirng I'm trying to follow all blogs by facebook. Do you have a facebook page for the blog?
Geekymummy - hello! No, I don't, but maybe I should. Planning on having a revamp once we are back in England, so I'll make that part of it...
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