Musicians at Luton Sixth Form College were given the chance to perform on one of the grandest grand pianos in the country last week.
A Fazioli grand piano visited the college for a series of special events including a piano masterclass run by a professional musician, a workshop for students from Stopsley and Icknield High Schools, a recording session and a talk on the development of piano building.
On Monday night there was a shared piano recital, Stars of the Future, featuring four prize-winning artists from the prestigious Jaques Samuel International Piano Competition as part of Luton Music Club’s Music on Mondays series.
But the star of the show was the instrument itself – 9ft in length, worth £115,000 and hand made by piano manufacturing company Fazioli Pianoforti at its factory in north-east Italy.
Composer and pianist Richard Sisson, who is in charge of programming at Luton Music Club, said: “It’s one of the top 20 pianos in the country, so the students got to enjoy playing a thoroughbred instrument.
“It’s like driving a Rolls Royce. It’s hand-made, has quality craftsmanship and there’s technology at the cutting edge of piano design in there.”
The piano was played virtually every minute it was at the college, with about 40 students and staff giving it a tinkle.