I bought this gem in the early 1980s from a pianist colleague/friend from U of T. As you can see, it is a beautiful baby grand piano and I now wish that I had spent more time practising piano in my formative years to do justice to having this exquisite instrument. However, the bulk of my practise time was focussed (quite correctly, as it turned out) on the tuba. Still, I got my act together well enough to eventually get my grade 6 piano from the Royal Conservatory.
My research shows that it was built by the Chickering company in Boston in 1969. People often comment on it as the “Glenn Gould piano”, as he had something quite similar to it in his household.
This year (2023), I had it refurbished — new strings, new hammers, new pegs — the whole megillah. It was serendipitous that the work was done locally by The Piano Man, a family-run outfit in West Grey, about a half hour drive south of Owen Sound. Andrew Burgess, the founder, did the bulk of the refurbishment. His wife, Mary, worked wonders cleaning up the wooden cabinet and keeping everything on schedule, and son Justin (who possesses “bionic” hearing) is my tuner. Beautiful work all round!
Yes, it cost a lot to have it done — I know that I will never see any financial return on my investment.
But that’s not the point, is it?