Grand new buy soon for city | Rotorua News | Local News in Rotorua

Rotorua's ability to attract top performers back to the city has received a major boost with the impending purchase of a new grand piano for the Civic Theatre.

Rotorua district councillors unanimously agreed to go ahead with a piano replacement plan at a recent meeting of the council's community, parks and recreation committee.

Approval to buy a Shigeru Kawai 2.7m (9ft) concert grand piano for $152,000 was given by the council providing the piano passes a playing trial.

In June the council formed a sub-committee tasked with finding and buying a suitable new grand piano for the Civic Theatre as part of the council's Rotorua Convention Centre upgrade.

The council's piano selection sub-committee was made up of councillors Janet Wepa (chairwoman), Maggie Bentley and Glenys Searancke, local musicians Jenny McDonald and Elizabeth Woollacott, Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust member Jo Anne La Grouw and New Zealand's leading concert pianist, Michael Houstoun.

Mrs Wepa said the sub-committee looked at all the available options and had received "invaluable input" from Mr Houstoun.

The council had a budget of $282,000 set aside for a replacement piano in its draft annual plan for 2010 but that money was deferred until 2011, or until the Convention Centre upgrade was completed.

"Some members of the [Rotorua Energy Charitable] Trust were upset with that decision so they made available to us an interest-free loan of $250,000 that we could pay back next year," Mrs Wepa said.

"Our main concern was to choose the right grand piano. Lots of people would say, 'Why didn't we buy a Steinway?' But when it comes to buying a piano at that level, we were told it was more about how the piano played than its brand."

Mrs Wepa said one of the reasons the committee decided on the Shigeru Kawai was that the wool and wood used in its manufacture was from New Zealand.

She said it was important for Rotorua to have a quality instrument to attract quality performers and that groups had cancelled or postponed performances in the city due to a lack of adequate facilities in the past.