| Issue #2- April 6, 2007 |
A Good Day For A Steinway
A Baby Grand Piano Hits A Church On The North Fork
By Phyllis Lombardi
It’s better to give than receive. Maybe Ben Franklin said that, he said everything else. But if Ben didn’t say it, then perhaps a certain North Fork woman did. Because that woman just gave a mighty gift to each of us.
I’m talking about a really special present. It was a bit too big to fit in a U.S. Postal Service box. And strangely, it came to us wrapped in burlap, not tissue.
Now gifting, I think, is divided into three parts. There’s the giver. The gift itself. And then the recipient. We’ll have to travel to Greenport to meet our giver but you’ll soon understand why her gift enriches everyone living on this fork – and those lucky enough to visit, if only for an afternoon.
First, the giver. In this case, Mildred G. Cowan who lives in Greenport’s Peconic Landing. Only a short time ago she presented the Church of The Holy Trinity in Greenport with a baby grand piano. How’s that for a gift? More about that Steinway later.
Mildred has been caught up in the beauty of pianos and piano music since childhood. She grew up in Connecticut, lived for 20 years in Oyster Bay, then Mattituck, and since last October, in Greenport. That Steinway she gave to Holy Trinity is a piano she selected when she toured the Steinway factory complex in Astoria, Queens. When I talked with Mildred, she told me of the care and craftsmanship she saw when she went from piano to glorious piano searching for the one to take home. She found it, loved it, and indeed took it home. But home now is smaller and Mildred knew she’d have to part with the piano. A sacrifice surely, and just as surely, Mildred’s grace note. Holy Trinity is the recipient of her generosity.
But don’t you worry about Mildred’s being without a song. She has a smaller piano and a theater organ in her Peconic Landing home. She’ll not be without music.
The piano Mildred gave to Holy Trinity is one of several she met that day she traveled to Astoria. How did the keys feel beneath her fingers? How did each piano sound? The wood, the felt? Did they respond? The chosen piano became part of the Cowan family, in this case tuned faithfully by Steinway technicians who came to Mildred’s home. Care was taken.
I thought about Steinway and Astoria as Mildred spoke with me. As a child I often passed through Astoria on my way to visit a Jackson Heights grandma. Then I’d no idea that Steinway Street in Astoria was home to a Steinway factory, indeed a Steinway village, almost medieval in its setup – homes, stores and schools for employees right on the premises.
Later I learned the original Steinway factory was, of course, in Germany. One of the Steinway brothers came to the United States to set up shop, so to speak. That was in Astoria. During World War II, the brother who remained in Germany saw his Steinway factory forced to produce munitions, not music.
And so, in each Steinway piano, old or new, there is history. That history moves on now to Greenport and the tempo picks up. For the Church of The Holy Trinity feels a gratitude that must be expressed fortissimo. How to do this? With a series of concerts – Music At Trinity – for the people of the North Fork. The first concert is on April 15 and they’ll continue for as long as we’ve ears to hear, hearts to respond.
Yiyi Ku is the pianist featured in the first concert. Born in Taiwan, Ms. Ku moved, with her family, to Christchurch, New Zealand, when she was 14, studying piano all along the way, even into college and graduate school at University of Canterbury in New Zealand. Now Yiyi Ku teaches piano at East End Community School of the Arts in Riverhead and is, as well, a concert pianist.
Sure, that means some classical piano music on April 15 in the Holy Trinity hall at 3 p.m. But that’s not all. Yiyi Ku is going to treat us to some contemporary music written by Long Island composers. So when you enter the church hall at 768 Main Street in Greenport, you’ll meet Mildred G. Cowan, see that proud piano, and hear Yiyi Ku play it.
What an afternoon!
An afternoon with a piano. Each key a different sound. Each important in itself yet, when played with other keys, becomes more than itself. Rather like those who call the North Fork home. Alone, we offer just a single sound. Together, we create music.
 |
