Yarilo Students Helping Students Benefit Concert 2014

On June 19th of 2014, six young musicians (including myself) performed at a fundraising concert, “Students Helping Students,” organized by the Yarilo Contemporary Music Society.

Lawrence Wang, Evgenia Momchilova, Sherry Li, Catherine Xu, Shirley Cha, Richard He and Anna Levy (Teacher)

In the spring of 2012, Yarilo Contemporary Music Society established a $2000.00 scholarship as part of its mandate: “present, educate, and give back to our community,” by helping students who wish to pursue advanced studies in music. Yarilo seeks to help out the young performers who are ready to make that commitment towards professionalism and excellence, by offering a substantial scholarship of $2000 towards advanced music studies of a young musician, through an open competition. For the past two years they succeeded in awarding four deserving students $1000 each to pursue their studies.

The performers were Richard He, Lawrence Wang, Sherry Li, Evgenia Momchilova, Catherine Xu, and myself. We presented the most entertaining, pleasing, public favorites by Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Gershwin, and Mendelssohn.

With my piano teacher Anna Levy after the concert

 

Here is a video of our concert (I'm playing at the beginning and the end of this piano)!

I played three dances from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite (duet) with Lawrence Wang, Prokofiev's 3rd Piano Sonata and Mendelssohn's Variations Sérieuses.

Links:

https://www.yarilomusic.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PPljI6DYZI

The Size Of The Great Pianists' Hands

How far could the great pianists stretch their hands?

Did you know that Daniel Barenboim, one of his generation's most respected pianists, can manage to straddle a 9th on the piano, where Rachmaninov and Liszt could handle a whopping 13th?

Rachmaninoff was 6ft 6in tall and is believed to have had a hand span of an incredible 12 inches. His colleague Cyril Smith once saw him take the mammoth chord of C-E flat-G-C-G in his left hand.



Rachmaninoff in 1901



Top 10 Most Expensive Pianos In The World

10. Fazioli Brunei ($400,000)



This piano was established by pianist and mechanical engineer Paolo Fazioli 32 years ago, and it is still the most expensive concerto grand piano in the world. The company that produced this piano is Fazioli Pianoforti. This unique instrument was made with inlays of precious stones, mother of pearls and exotic woods. It is tuned so that it produces a deeper bass and mellower sound.

9. La Mort du Cygne, Erard ($409,000)

This carved mahogany Erard piano was specially customized by French artists Louis Majorelle and Victor Prouve who were well-known figures in the Art Nouveau movements of the early 20th century. Built in 1906, this baby grand piano features a beatiful fruitwood venner inlay.

8. The Casablanca Piano, Richardson's Inc. ($602,500)

This piano isn't really much to look at with its faded yellow-green finish, but it holds an enormous sentimental value for the legion of Casablanca fans. This upright piano was featured in one of the most memorable movie scenes of all time - the "As Time Goes By" act in the legendary Casablanca.

7. Marilyn Monroe's Baby Grand Piano ($662,500)

This baby grand piano of an unknown manufacturer was listed for sale in a Christie's auction in 1999 at the side of alternative Monroe record. In a high profile auction, pop star MAriah Carey bought the baby grand with a winning bid of $662,500.

6. Kuhn Bösendorfer Grand Piano ($1.2 Million)

What do you get when you combine the exquisite acoustics of a Bösendorfer grand piano with the brilliance of the world’s greatest glass sculptor, Jon Kuhn? You will end up with a gorgeous jet-black limited edition Kuhn-Bösendorfer. This 7 ft. 4 in. piano features an astonishing 100,000 polished jewels of various shaped and sizes in 200 geometric patterns on its body. Austria-based L. Bösendorfer Klavierfabrik has inscribed Kuhn’s name in gold leaf on the piano.

5. Galaxy Piano ($1.36 Million)

Using internal parts ordered directly from manufacturers in Germany, the Galaxy Piano features 24-carat gold plated fiberglass body, automatic lid, curved keys (the only one in the world) and gold-plated embedded figurines. Special flight cases are also constructed for the pianos. Interestingly, the company classifies itself as a luxury item provider, instead of a musical instrument seller.

4. Sound of Harmony Concert Grand, Steinway & Sons ($1.63 Million)

The Sound of Harmony was specially built and customized by Steinway for Chinese art collector Guo Qingxiang in 2007. The construction of the art case concert grand took three years to complete. This masterpiece features an astounding level of craftsmanship and a rich acoustic of the specially designed soundboard, which was built using 40 layers of different woods from around the world. The Steinway logo and the piano name was imprinted on the piano using real gold.




3. Red Pops for (RED) Parlor Grand Piano, Steinway & Sons ($1.925 Million)

U2’s frontman Bono engaged the assistance of designers Sir Jonathan Ive and Marc Newson in 2013 to raise money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Africa. The resulting (RED) Auction held in New York managed to raise $26 million for the cause. The star of this event was without a doubt the eye-catching, stunning piano. It was later bought that evening for $1.925 million by Stewart Rahr.

2. John Lennon’s Steinway & Sons Model Z ($2.37 Million)

John Lennon used this to compose his signature song, "Imagine." The piano, which Lennon purchased for just £1,500 ($2,456) as a gift to his wife, was eventually won by another British pop star, George Michael, for £1.45 million ($2.37 million). Michael, who jokingly referred to the upright grand as “funny-looking” and “the cheapest-looking piano you’ve ever seen," sent the Model Z to the Beatles Story museum in Liverpool for public display.



And our winner of World's Most Expensive Pianos is...



1. Crystal Piano, Heintzman ($3.22 Million)


This exquisitely-crafted piano with a transparent crystal body was designed by Canadian piano manufacturer Heintzman Pianos and was built for performances in large concert halls. It was introduced to the world when Chinese pianist Lang Lang played the Yellow River Cantata in front of a global audience of almost a billion at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The Crystal Piano was sold at an auction to an unnamed bidder for $3.22 million.



Which one is your favourite?