Visitors to the ICBIE are immediately impressed when they see the beautiful old baby grand piano stationed under the stairway of the entrance hall. Unfortunately, the instrument is beautiful only in its appearance: it is in terrible mechanical shape and it would be prohibitively expensive to restore it, even if a capable technician could be found.
A long list of pianists have volunteered to come and give concerts, either as solo artists or in chamber music formations, and many would stay to offer lessons and seminars, but without a proper instrument, such a wonderful opportunity is lost. Even renting a pianoforte in Salvador is terribly difficult and expensive, as we discovered when we presented a concert by the pianist Stefano Greco at the Casa d’Italia in June 2006.
The time has come to remedy this problem, by initiating a fund-raising campaign to gather together 10,000 Euros (which means, unfortunately, very close to $15,000!), for the purchase of a Yamaha baby grand piano, in order to significantly improve the quality of our cultural offerings to the community. (It must be remembered that there are many fine local pianists, too, who have no good instrument to use, and a no proper concert venues where they can display their talent.) Because of the ubiquitous presence of the piano in all kinds of music, from classical to jazz and from popular music to avantgarde experimentalism, this purchase would unlock a whole series of cultural opportunities for the ICBIE.
ICBIE President Pietro Gallina will soon be launching a formal appeal, but in the meantime, we ask all of our friends and supporters to start thinking about strategies and initiatives. You can leave ideas as comments to this article, and if you leave an email address, you will be contacted. Thanks in advance!
