Tag Archives: Klavierhaus Piano Conservatory

City Council

Ordinance would allow temporary, ‘pop-up’ uses

10 Comments

The City Council is scheduled to adopt an ordinance Monday night that would allow property owners to use vacant storefronts as “pop-up” galleries or cafes until a tenant can fill the space.

City Council President Samson Steinman said the amendment will strengthen the city’s current outdoor dining ordinance while also allowing the temporary use of vacant storefronts for such things as “pop-up” galleries or cafes.

As an example, he cited an Irving Street property currently under renovation (across from the Klavierhaus Piano Conservatory) that is likely to participate. The ordinance would amend existing regulations to include permanent or temporary food establishments and outlines the application process, which includes a $45 fee.

Pop-galleries are being employed in Chicago’s Loop area and this 2009 story from The New York Times details various neighborhoods in New York City where the initiative has been employed. Some places have even used parking spaces to create “pop-up cafes” — decked out with seating, tables and plants — including Lower Manhattan, Westport, Conn., and Austin, Texas.

_uacct = “UA-2976232-1”;
urchinTracker();

Arts District, Downtown

Piano Conservatory opens

5 Comments

Conservatory: Piano, Hi Fi and Modern Home opened its doors Friday night for a “sneak preview” at its new home next to the Union County Performing Arts Center.

The conservatory will feature educational programs, a piano showroom, state-of-the-art audio equipment, vintage jazz and classical vinyl recordings, and recording studios.

Friday’s event included performances on pianos from the Klavierhaus collection as well as demonstrations of the equipment. “Our new multi-faceted space has been created for the pursuit of fine living through musical education and the leisure of experiencing music in the home,” said Peabody Award-winning and Latin Grammy-nominated radio and record producer Jim Luce of Piano Culture.

Renovations to the single-story building at the corner of Irving and Coach streets, which once housed the Rahway Alternative Education Center, could run upward of $20,000 once the HVAC system is replaced, according to Mayor James Kennedy, who also serves as a board member of UCPAC and the unpaid executive director of the Rahway Arts District. The arts center owns the building and will cover the cost of renovations, which included a new roof, he said, while leasing it to Luce and his partners.

_uacct = “UA-2976232-1”;
urchinTracker();

City Council

City purchases $90k piano for conservatory

20 Comments

The City Council on Monday night approved $90,000 for the purchase of a handmade Italian piano as part of the plan to establish the Klavierhause Piano Conservatory. The council entered into a contract with Piano Culture Institutional Consultants at Klavierhaus “for the purchase of a Fazioli Pianoforti F-228 (photo below) to enhance the Arts District Expansion Project.”

The piano retails for $140,000, according to City Administrator and Redevelopment Director Peter Pelissier, but the city will pay $90,000, with “another source outside of the municipal tax base” that will contribute $5,000. The piano will be on loan to the Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC) and can be moved for performances at the planned amphitheater as well as the arts center.

The bank building adjacent to UCPAC (on the corner of Coach Street) will be retrofitted to house the Klavierhaus Piano Conservatory, which will offer a variety of recitals, lessons, performances and more “with special emphasis given to young people.” The Edge art gallery nearby is being eyed for a satellite sales office for Klavier, where it could feature console pianos, according to Mayor James Kennedy.

A world-class piano brings an interesting component of a respectable art form, Kennedy said, and it shows that city is serious about the arts, especially to funders like the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

The piano will attract internationally renowned pianists that have chosen Fazioli pianos in concert halls, conservatories, theaters and recording studios to perform and record their performances for the public to attend, according to Pelissier. “This is one component that will be a tremendous asset for the UCPAC to provide for and make Rahway a distinct destination of the arts,” he said.

A ceremony to celebrate the piano’s arrival will be Sunday, Feb. 21, at 4 p.m. at the UPCAC Studio Theatre, featuring Russian-born pianist Vassily Primakov.

Asked how a $90,000 purchase for a piano could be justified as property taxes rise, Pelissier described it as an investment in the arts district and the city’s overall redevelopment plans, not unlike the county’s $6-million purchase and renovation of UCPAC, construction of the library and recreation center, and renovation of Train Station Plaza.

“Municipalities that have concert halls have testified that the monies that come in to their respective towns and cities are in the millions resulting from parking fees, spending in restaurants, etc.,” Pelissier said. “In as much, as redevelopment has slowed down with the exception of a few projects, the arts initiatives set forth by the mayor will not only attract people to Rahway, it will continue to attract redevelopers to our city when the economic market returns. Our city will be ready.”

_uacct = “UA-2976232-1”;
urchinTracker();