Ivory League New Steinway grand piano key to Husson College concert series

A Steinway is a Steinway,” the great pianist Arthur Rubinstein once said. “And there is nothing else like it in the world.”

Husson College has had its own Steinway. The fine old piano spurred the creation of the college’s late-summer Husson Piano Recital Series, which features pianists of local, national and international renown. In recent years, however, the instrument had ceased to be concert-quality due to age and wear.

“The older Steinway had lost a lot of its strength. The thing that it was most lacking was its singing tone,” noted Bangor pianist Dr. Patricia Stowell. “It’s very difficult for a musician to play a piano which has lost its singing tone.”

When next summer’s recital series gets under way, however, pianists will lay their fingers on the keys of a brand new Steinway. Thanks to the generosity of Husson trustee John Kilgore, Husson has acquired a Steinway Model B Grand at a cost of $54,000.

In January, Julie Green, Husson’s public affairs director, Kilgore family members, and Boston University music director Anthony di Bonaventura, who performs in the summer series, ventured to New York and visited Steinway & Sons on 51st Street.

“They lined up five pianos for us. Mr. di Bonaventura came with us and began to play. He

went up and down the line,” Green recalled. “I said to John Kilgore’s son, John Kilgore, III, ‘He’s going to choose the second.’ He said, ‘No, he’s going to choose the fifth.’ In the end, he did choose the second.”

Steinway & Sons was founded in New York in 1853. In 1866, the company opened Steinway Hall, the predecessor of Carnegie Hall, and its New York showroom is still just down the street from that venue.

For Green, visiting the legendary piano makers and touring the Big Apple was dream. The group stayed at an upscale, private club at 69th and Park Avenue.

“It was kind of a fairy tale … big ceilings and fancy food,” Green said.

While visiting the Steinway showroom, the Husson group met Henry Steinway, retired company president and great-grandson of founder Henry Engelhard Steinway. Steinway happened to be in his office that day.

“We had a wonderful visit with Mr. Steinway and he took us on a tour of his private collections,” Green said. Afterward, Steinway treated the group to a posh luncheon.

Since the group’s return to Maine, the Steinway grand was tuned and serviced in Boston. Then early last month, the new piano was delivered by truck to Husson and installed in Kominsky Auditorium. A humidity-controlled storage room will be created at the auditorium to keep the piano in proper condition for years to come.

Seven feet long, with an ebony finish, the Steinway grand is a joy to play. Each stroke of its keys delivers a resonant sound better experienced than described.

“Steinway is known for a friendly, kind of in-your-face sort of sound,” noted Stowell, one of the privileged few to play the piano since its arrival. “They have a beautiful response action for technique, that’s why pianists love a Steinway.”

“The audience will immediately hear the difference. It will be easier for the musician to play it,” the pianist said. “It won’t just be by a music connoisseur; the average listener will be able to hear it.”

As a private institution, Husson receives no federal funds. Such funding enables public institutions to maintain their arts and music programs. But through the generous support of private donors, Husson has been able to offer arts programs that benefit its students and the Greater Bangor community.

About five years ago, Surry resident John Kilgore joined Husson’s board of trustees. After he got on the board, he began to share his vision of a music program for Husson. He has a particular passion for the music of 18th century composer Domenico Scarlatti.

To fulfill this vision, Kilgore donated his own 75-year-old Steinway grand to the college. The donation of the fine instrument was the catalyst for the creation of the summer Husson Piano Recital Series two years ago, which features local, nationally and internationally known pianists.

With the acquisition of the new Steinway grand, the college aims to offer piano instruction and other related programs in the future. For now, the piano will be used primarily for the late-summer concert series, which kicks off in August with a performance by Anthony diBoneventura.