Venues

Opened in 1988, The Auditorio Nacional de Música (National Music Auditorium) is part of the National Institute of Scenic Arts and Music and features two major concert halls: the 2,300 capacity Symphony Hall and the smaller 700 capacity Chamber Hall.

The premier concert venue in Spain, Madrid’s renowned Auditorio Nacional de Música, has become the most recent prestigious international venue to install Yamaha's flagship concert grand piano, the CFX.

Yamaha were delighted to host the acclaimed Spanish pianist Javier Perianes at its Hamburg headquarters recently to make the vital selection of the CFX that is to be installed in the concert hall. Javier is one of Spain's most exciting and respected young pianists and is hugely popular with audiences in Spain and beyond, having performed in New York's Carnegie Hall, London's Wigmore and Royal Festival Halls and the Suntory Hall in Tokyo. He has worked with many prestigious orchestras and is already a successful recording artist, having released a range of popular CDs. He also recently received a Latin Grammy nomination.

On the selection process, Javier comments, “It's been a true pleasure to have participated in the selection of this new Yamaha CFX for the Auditorio Nacional de Música. I believe that the beautiful sound and the precise mechanics of this extraordinary instrument will catch the attention of many pianists.”

www.auditorionacional.mcu.es

London's legendary Ronnie Scott's jazz club, located in the heart of Soho, has become the latest high profile venue to select and install a Yamaha CF series grand piano.

The CF6 piano was selected for Ronnie’s following an exhaustive evaluation process conducted at Yamaha's European HQ in Hamburg by the club's Musical Director James Pearson and acclaimed jazz pianist Tom Cawley. The duo were presented with a range of CF6s to play each voiced and toned differently.

James Pearson comments, “We were given the choice of five or six pianos, all of which had completely different characteristics and were prepared slightly differently. They were all glorious and we moved them around the selection room to hear them with a different acoustic. It was very important to consider how the piano would sound in the club, which has a dry acoustic. The colours and range of the CF6 are very strong: you can get a hard and aggressive sound and a wonderful gentle sound and timbre. The CF6 is 6’11”, so it's not a concert grand, but it has a richness I'd associate with a much bigger instrument. It's also incredibly versatile: it can be brightened or softened and regulated very easily. Durability is a vital factor as the piano at Ronnie's can be played by three or four pianists every single day, and it’s also regularly moved around. The CF6 copes with this brilliantly.”

Founded in London's West End in 1959 by saxophonist Ronnie Scott as a place where local musicians could meet and play, the club eventually relocated to a buzzing Soho and is now arguably the world's most famous jazz club, attracting capacity audiences almost every night of the week. Always at the cutting edge, the club is also renowned for being the first place to catch hotly tipped rising stars, visionary artists and the next big thing.

www.ronniescotts.co.uk

London's iconic Abbey Road Studios is the most famous recording facility in the world and now becomes the latest high-profile facility to select Yamaha's acclaimed flagship CFX concert grand piano.

The CFX is installed in Studio Two which has a unique design and acoustic, as well as an extraordinary history, including most of The Beatles recordings. Studio Two has more recently been home to performances and recordings by Adele, Jamie Cullum and, fittingly, Sir Paul McCartney returned once again to record some of his latest album ’New’.

Abbey Road's decision to select a CFX came after extensive testing by a team of the studios' multi-award winning senior engineers, including internationally renowned classical music recording specialist Arne Akselberg; Simon Rhodes, who has recorded over 100 film scores including Skyfall, Harry Potter and Avatar as well the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games ; and Director of Engineering, Peter Cobbin, whose credits include the scores for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the London Olympics and DVD surround sound projects including John Lennon, U2 and the Beatles' Anthology.

You can view a short film where Arne Akselberg and Simon Rhodes talk about the CFX and the unique qualities it brings to Studio Two and enjoy a guest appearance by jazz legend Julian Joseph here:

Peter Cobbin commented "Abbey Road is one of the world’s most famous recording facilities, renowned globally for its rich heritage and history of exemplary high musical and technical standards. This exquisite CFX piano will be very much at home in this environment, where we are fortunate to regularly host some of the world’s leading musicians, composers, directors and producers."

www.abbeyroad.com

Théâtre des Champs Elysées Paris in complete harmony with Yamaha CFX concert grand and Clavinova CLP.

Founded in 1913, the prestigious Théâtre des Champs Elysées lies at the heart of Parisian cultural life. It is renowned for its exceptional creative classical music program.

The Théâtre des Champs Elysées has installed the flagship Yamaha CFX concert grand, which is proving highly popular amongst the most discerning and demanding international artists. The CFX is played on the main stage of the theatre and its sound is enjoyed by both pianistsand public alike.

The theatre turned to Yamaha to help address the practical challenges inherent in running a very demanding daily performance and rehearsal schedule. Yamaha worked closely with the venue to provide a solution, culminating in the installation of a combination of acoustic pianos and a Clavinova digital piano.

The CLP-370 Clavinova plays an invaluable role in the theatre’s hectic rehearsal schedule. It has proved to be particularly advantageous to the opera singers who have benefitted from the Clavinova’s ability to be quickly re-tuned to any key and from the authenticity of its Harpsichord voice. Without the latter, the theatre management would have had to have spent considerable time and resources maintaining traditional baroque instruments which can be fragile, expensive and too difficult to tune at short notice.

A spokesperson for the theatre comments:

“The Yamaha Clavinova has provided a superb solution to a range of practical issues. It has dramatically reduced the problems we encounter with rehearsal time, and the brilliant quality of all the voices meets the high artistic demands of our artists whilst allowing us to better use our resources around the building. The Clavinova has proved to be a precious working tool for the theatre.”

Opened in 1963, the Philharmonie lies at the very heart of cultural and artistic life in the city and beyond. Boasting an innovative and pioneering architectural design the Concert Hall soon became one of the city's most iconic landmarks and now serves as a model for concert halls the world over.

The venue, is of course also home to the famous Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra with its principal conductor Sir Simon Rattle. In 2013 the Philharmonie celebrated its 50th anniversary with a wide range of inspiring and enthralling concerts and events. The acquisition of a Yamaha CFX Concert Grand Piano represents a further vital milestone in the growing popularity of the instrument amongst concert pianists and internationally significant and influential concert venues.

In addition to hosting a world class concert schedule with the Philharmonie the hall also produces a variety of vibrant events for the local community including a thriving lunchtime recital series, often attracting audiences of up to 1500 music lovers.

Mr Hübshe, the venue's head Piano technician was crucial to the rigorous and extensive CFX selection process, he commented "I first heard the CFX being played in another venue in the city and knew immediately that the instrument would be perfect for the Philharmonie. This particular CFX has a beautifully detailed and clear sound that suits our performance spaces perfectly. Additionally the voicing and tuning are very stable.

Berlin Philharmonie Hall(Berlin,Germany)

Founded in 1954 and located in Bialystok, one of Eastern Poland’s biggest cities, the prestigious and popular Opera i Filharmonia Podlaska is a highly respected and acclaimed music organisation.

In 2005 Opera i Filharmonia Podlaska reached a new milestone as they embarked on the creation of a hugely ambitious major new facility to allow the organisation to extend and expand their cultural activities and outreach. The new Culture Centre was to boast a combination of stunning modern design with highly specified performance, rehearsal and learning spaces, encompassing dedicated practice halls for choir and orchestra. The new facility was to become a central hub for artistic excellence and creativity in the region.

With such ambitious and far-reaching plans, the organisation needed access to the highest quality musical equipment, instruments and professional audio solutions. In 2011 they naturally turned to Yamaha for guidance and now have an extensive inventory of Yamaha equipment and instruments including the flagship CFX concert grand piano and a fleet of YUS3 handcrafted upright pianos.

Yamaha are delighted to find that the CFX is now the most requested piano for solo recitals. These outstanding hand-crafted pianos are complemented by a range of Yamaha concert percussion instruments and XENO trumpets which sit happily alongside cutting edge Yamaha technology including digital mixing consoles and the acclaimed N1 AvantGrand ‘hybrid’ pianos.

As with many other international centres of musical excellence, the relationship between Opera i Filharmonia Podlaska and Yamaha has prospered and developed into a wide range of creative activities that see the two organisations working together more and more.

Leighton Park School, UK

Leighton Park has become the latest addition to Yamaha's Music Education Partner Programme and is the first educational institution in the UK to purchase one of the company's acclaimed CFX flagship concert grand pianos. Other instruments purchased include seventeen grands and uprights plus digital and stage pianos, totaling nineteen in all.

Leighton Park School, located in 60 acres of beautiful parkland just outside Reading town centre, is a co-educational day and boarding school for students aged 11-18 years. The school’s academic achievement and pastoral care are underpinned by a distinctive ethos based on Quaker values.

Rosemary Scales, Director of Music explains, “In looking to replace our stock of existing pianos, the quality of the instruments was clearly a key factor, but we also wanted to find a partner who was equally passionate about making music accessible, irrespective of individual capabilities. Yamaha very much reflected this approach within their Music Education Partner Programme.”

The delivery of the new pianos, which coincides with the start of the school’s 125th Anniversary celebrations, is an important cornerstone for supporting and building on the musical reputation of Leighton Park. The aim is to continue producing excellent musical scholars whilst also providing opportunities for the all the schools’ students to discover their musical talents.

www.leightonpark.com

Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel (Brussels, Belgium)

Belgium's internationally renowned Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel has joined the growing ranks of prestigious training centers of excellence investing in Yamaha grand pianos, significant highlights include the installation of the flagship CFX concert grand piano and 5 CF6’s.

The founding principles of the Music Chapel remain as true today as when the institution was inaugurated: a system of companionship with Masters in Residence and connections to leading cultural partners throughout Belgium and the world, including leading orchestras and concert halls. All soloists in residence are professionally tutored in all aspects of career development, thus ensuring that upon graduation they are equipped for a wide range of work.

Many of the Yamaha pianos were personally selected at Yamaha's Hamburg headquarters by Maria João Pires, a Master in Residence at the Music Chapel. The full inventory of Yamaha pianos selected is 1 x CFX, 5 x CF6, 3 x C3XPE, 8 x C2X PE, 2 x C3 SH Silent and 4 x C2 SH silent models.

http://musicchapel.org/