The concert grand piano from Held Auditorium at Salida High School will spend the next few months in Canon City where it will get new strings and then be returned in time for the 34th annual Salida Aspen Concert series this summer.
Steinway technician Kevin Stock of Canon City drove his trailer to town yesterday (Tues., Jan. 5) and used a custom made jack and tilt rack to lift the 760-pound instrument and tip it onto a dolly so it could be rolled offstage and out the school doors. Stock is a third-generation Canon City native with a music degree from the University of Pueblo (now CSU-Pueblo). He spent his early career training and teaching other piano technicians at the Steinway & Sons factories in New York City and Hamburg, Germany.
Stock worked on this piano last year, removing the action mechanism from behind the keys for repair in his shop. But this year he had to take the whole piano and brought his wife, Shama and five-year-old son, Anton, to help. Salida Concerts board members Harry Spencer and Earle Kittleman and high school personnel also assisted the move.
The serial number on the piano identifies it as a Steinway B, built in 1951. Steinway started making model Bs in the 1800s for use in auditoriums rather than large concert halls.
Stock was recommended by the Aspen Music Festival and School, which partners with Salida Concerts to bring top notch classical artists to Salida for six concerts every summer.
The objective is to make the artists happy by making sure the piano is working at its best.
Submitted by Earle Kittleman.
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