Pupils and staff at a school in Grantham, Lincolnshire are celebrating after winning a very special grand piano in a prestigious national competition promoted and sponsored by Double First Ltd and its IT and telecoms partner du Pré.
Grantham Preparatory School was presented with the heirloom Broadwood & Sons piano by Managing Director Barry Anns in a special ceremony at the school today, Friday 5 July.
Four of the pupils (pictured right with Barry Anns) performed on the piano, the school choir sang and local choirmaster Dr Williams presented Chopin’s challenging Ballade No1 in G Minor, a fitting overture to the piano’s new life in the school’s main hall.
The school was awarded the prize after entering a competition that was run and judged by The Independent Schools Association (ISA).
The piano had been in the care and ownership of the du Pré family for many years and it was fully restored by Broadwood & Sons in recent times. Piers du Pré said that he wanted it “to find a new home where it will be cherished and used for the advancement and great love of music.”
The piano was built sometime between 1900 and 1910, in the same era that Broadwood & Sons supplied a piano to Captain Scott’s Antarctic expedition.
Kathryn Korcz, Head of Grantham Preparatory School spoke directly to the school’s pupils at the presentation, asking them to imagine just how many people had already played the piano since it was made.
The piano competition is the latest initiative in our keen support of the arts and it also marks its significant support of the ISA – Double First Ltd is a Gold Preferred Supplier to this association of well over 300 independent schools.