Orkney has welcomed its first Steinway concert grand piano after six years of fundraising by the St Magnus International Festival.
The beautiful ‘Model D’ instrument is the first owned by the Festival in its forty year history and cost more than £115,000. It arrived at its new home of St Magnus Cathedral after a 1200 mile journey from Steinway’s workshops in Hamburg, Germany, just in time for the 2016 programme.
Fundraising for the piano began in 2010 when Alasdair Nicolson became Artistic Director of the Festival. Grants from Orkney Islands Council, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Creative Scotland covered around half the cost, with the rest coming from more than 260 generous private donations.
Its first concerts will be held at the St Magnus International Festival, celebrating its 40th anniversary, later this month - it will be used by Russian pianist Alexei Volodin alongside the BBC Symphony Orchestra in Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No 2.
There is still time to book tickets for the 40th St Magnus International Festival – find out more from the official website.
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