The Cork School of Music has taken delivery of the world's largest order of Steinway baby grand pianos, worth €2.5 million.
The 57 pianos were transported from Steinway's facility in Hamburg, Germany to the new school building at Union Quay where they were assembled yesterday.
They include one grand piano, 55 type-B baby grands and one upright piano. The baby grands are a smaller version of the grand piano designed for the concert hall. Over the next 10 days, the instruments will be tuned by Steinway technicians. The school will have a full-time technician on site to maintain and tune them for the next 25 years.
The state-of-the-art school was designed and built by German company Hochtief Design, which will also maintain the building for Cork Institute of Technology, which runs the school of music.
Hochtief project director Peter O'Shea explains that the pianos have been placed in the new school's tuition studios. "Each Steinway piano is made by hand, they're the best that money can buy. Each piano has its own unique sound and they all have personalities of their own. They will all be individually tuned to suit each tutor," he says.
Once the pianos have been tuned, they will be left to acclimatise to their new home for a month before being retuned. One final tuning will take place before the school opens in September.
Gabriela Mayer, head of the department of keyboard studies at the school, says it is a hugely exciting time for students and staff. "This will put Cork on the international music map even more than it already is. In a sense, it's a recognition of the teaching excellence in the school and the talent of our students."
The school's existing three Steinways will be moved into the new premises, bringing to 60 its collection of Steinways.
The oldest music school in Ireland or Britain, the Cork School of Music currently has a student population of over 2,000 and employs a staff of 127. The original building was demolished to make way for the new school and in the interim, students and staff have been using Moore's Hotel, Connolly Hall and 13 other venues around the city.
The 13,000sq m purpose-built new school includes a library, 52 teaching studios, a 500-seat auditorium, a 100-seat theatre and movement room, a recording studio, electronic music studio and music labs.
