What do you do when you find a $300,000 Steinway piano from 1893 in a community hall cupboard? You play it, of course! That's what happened Saturday, Jan 23rd at the Gaiety Theater in Wairoa, New Zealand, after American-born jazz pianist David Paquette was asked to arrange a concert in the small New Zealand town, but needed a piano for the event. Told by the town council that there was an old piano hidden away in the community hall, Paquette did not expect to find a barely-used 8 ft. grand intended for concert hall use.
The American jazz pianist David Paquette (who moved to Auckland 30 years ago and only last September to the small town of Wairoa, New Zealand) has made a name for himself by sharing his unique style of playing throughout the world. He has toured with notable individuals such as Tony Bennett and Phil Collins, he has traveled the European jazz circuit, and he has established the 17-yr. running annual Jazz Festival on New Zealand's Waiheke Island. A musical treasure in his adopted nation, Paquette became a prominent figure in the Auckland and Waiheke Island jazz scenes and is now teaming up with the town council in his new home of Wairoa, New Zealand to organize local music events.
After planning the Long River Swing concert for a Jan. 23rd event (for which a piano was required), jazz pianist David Paquette was instructed by the town council to browse the Wairoa community hall where he had expected to find a much humbler instrument. Instead, what he found was an 8-ft. concert grand dating from 1893, which, according to David, had only been played "a handful of times each year, on Anzac Day and for the occasional funeral".
The piano, confirmed to be a Steinway Model C by David Paquette's friend and piano technician Daniel Stabler, is expected to be worth $300,000 after refurbishing. Stabler admitted his astonishment at the rarity of the find, especially in such an unassuming town: "It just seems crazy that there was any old Steinway in Wairoa, especially a Model C. It's very rare to find a piano like this. The only other ones around are in the big concert halls. A piano like this will last virtually forever, it just needs regular maintenance."
Jazz Pianist David Paquette hopes that the $300,000 Steinway Piano found in Wairoa, New Zealand will remain in the town and entice world-class musicians from afar to visit and perform for the townsfolk.
Despite being un-refurbished, after a mild tuning the $300,000 Steinway piano made its first appearance in a large-scale setting last Saturday for the Long River Swing concert with jazz pianist David Paquette at the keys. To rest assured the piano was in good hands, check out David Paquette's performance of Irving Berlin's "My Walking Stick" below... with a modern twist.
