NEW PIANOS FOR BROADCASTING

Press, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 26886, 12 November 1952, Page 8

NEW PIANOS FOR BROADCASTING

Four Steinway Grands Bought

USE AT STUDIOS IN MAIN CENTRES

(From Our Own Reporter)

WELLINGTON, November 11.

Four Steinway concert grand pianos will be shipped from London to the New Zealand Broadcasting Service towards the end of this month. The pianos, which will be landed in Wellington for a total cost of £10,600, will be used in studios of the YA stations in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin.

The pianos are the standard Oft 6in Steinway grands, made of black ebony. They were made in the Steinway factory in Hamburg, but were bought from London. Provision for the expenditure on the pianos was provided in the Supplementary Estimates passed by Parliament last month.

“It is donkeys’ years since we purchased any good pianos.” said a spokesman of the Broadcasting Service this afternoon. “It must be 20 years since we purchased Anything other than small or second-hand pianos. “The new instruments will be available for all first-class broadcasting use,” he said. “The question of their use by jazz pianists has not been considered. However, there is no reason why they should not be used by someone like Mr Alec Templeton, who is an admirable jazz pianist. He has the accomplished technical skill of all very fine pianists.”