“A Grand Old Piano”

In July 2010 a 1956 piano was returned to Rockwell Hall Auditorium completely refurbished and is now considered a world-class concert instrument.

The piano, a Mason and Hamlin Concert Grand, was purchased in 1956 and originally lived in Albright Knox Hall next to the Albright Knox Art Gallery.

In 2005 plans began being made to possibly invest in trying to restore the piano to its original condition.

The fund raising for the project began in 2008 with the help of the 88-Key People Campaign and Ted Turkle, director of the SUNY Research Foundation.

The project really took off in early 2009 when the piano was sent to Nathan Baldwin in Pennsylvania.  Baldwin worked on refinishing the case and replacing various internal parts of the piano.

In Fall 2009 the piano was then delivered to Graham Howes, a piano technician for Buffalo State College.  He installed new strings and ensured that all other aspects of the piano were intact.    

The finished piano is currently located in Rockwell Hall Auditorium.  In 2012 a new 4 million dollar recital hall will have been completed on the third floor of Rockwell Hall.  “The Mason and Hamlin along with other instruments we plan to purchase will service that recital hall,” explained Dr. Bradley Fuster, Buffalo State Music Department chair.

Dr. Bryan Boyce, Assistant Professor of Piano at Buffalo State and a very talented musician, performed a faculty recital on the newly refurbished piano on Tuesday, September 7, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.

The recital consisted of a variety of classical pieces as well as the world premier of a brand new composition entitled “Redshift” by Jose Tomás Henriques, an Assistant Professor at Buffalo State.

“I chose a program that would show off the wide range of colors and dynamics that the instrument is capable of,” Boyce explained.  He said, “the recital billed as the unveiling of the instrument- as the first one to perform on it.”

Boyce was also very active in the refurbishing of the piano.  “I was certainly the one spearheading this and pushing it to happen,” he said.

Boyce explained what it took to be able to see the project through.  “We fund raised for a year and a half through the 88 Key People Campaign.  That money and the money from the Research Foundation made this all possible,” he said.

There is a plaque located in the lobby outside of the Rockwell Hall Auditorium.  It acknowledges all those who were involved in the refurbishing process.

The students are also excited at the prospect of having a new concert quality piano available to them.  “It helps the department as a whole by giving us better material to work with,” explained Amanda Stallone, a sophomore piano student and music major.

The piano will be available for student concerts, faculty concerts, and guest artist recitals for years to come.  In fact, this past Sunday, Clair Huangci performed an all Chopin piano recital on the refurbished Mason and Hamlin. 

There will certainly be many more wonderful performances in the future that feature this grand piano.

The Buffalo State Music Department is also looking at possibly refurbishing a couple of other grand pianos in the near future.