BY BRYAN SABELLA
Staff Writer
METUCHEN — Students and faculty at the Westerhoff School of Music and Art on Amboy Avenue have acquired a rare thing in the world of small, nonprofit music schools.
The school recently celebrated the arrival of a Steinway Grand piano, the result of a longtime quest.
Steinway & Sons, founded in Manhattan in 1853, produces what many consider to be the world’s finest pianos, and the Grand is the crown jewel in its line.
“It’s top of the line,” said music director David Iskowitz. “They can go from $65,000 to $70,000 new. It’s the Mercedes of pianos. You will find them at some colleges and larger [music] schools.”
Iskowitz said the Westerhoff Steinway is a Model B, one step down from the huge concert pianos one might see at a Carnegie Hall performance. Steinway’s catalogue lists the Model B as being designed for smaller recital halls and auditoriums and for audio recording and television studios.
“Its presence provides students a special opportunity,” Iskowitz said. “They get to feel what a real professional concert instrument is like. The touch, the response, the sound, it’s beautiful.”
The purchase was made possible by a grant from school founder Helga Westerhoff’s foundation.
Westerhoff and teachers from the school made trips into New York City to tryout several different pianos and ultimately opted for a reconditioned Steinway they found at A&C Piano Craft in Manhattan.
In the reconditioning process, an older piano is taken apart and rebuilt from the inside, Westerhoff said.
“Everything is new except the wood the piano is housed in,” she said.
Westerhoff said the addition of the Steinway will lead to a series of Sunday concerts starting next spring, featuring the school’s faculty, a collection of highly accomplished classical musicians.
“We’ve had some [concerts and recitals] in the past,” she said. “But we’ve never really done piano concerts yet. We want to kick it off with a special concert and invite the mayor.”
“We’re a not-for-profit school,” she said. “So having a Steinway Grand is really prestigious.”