Princess Cruises’ baby grand piano handover at the High School of the Performing Arts at Newtown in Sydney (left to right) Gemma Thomas, Head Music Teacher, Stephen Grey, Principal, Neil Baker, student, Stuart Allison, Princess Cruises Vice President Australia and New Zealand, and Meg Koffel, Princess Cruises Public Relations Manager.
A Princess Cruises’ baby grand piano that has helped entertain many thousands of cruise travellers over the years has found a new home where young talent is nurtured.
The piano – one of two that became surplus on Princess Cruises’ Australian-based ships – is now a beautifully refurbished feature at the High School of the Performing Arts at Newtown in Sydney’s inner west.
This week, Princess Cruises Vice President Australia and New Zealand Stuart Allison and Princess Cruises’ Public Relations Manager Meg Koffel, visited the school to see the piano in its new creative environment, where they were treated to a mini Chopin concert by 15-year-old Year Nine student, Neil Baker.
“Neil’s performance was fantastic and it is wonderful to see that our baby grand piano has found a good home at the school,” said Mr Allison.
“It is no secret that many of the musicians and entertainers on Princess Cruises’ ships are young people from Australia.
“It’s nice to know that a piano that was being replaced on one of our ships is now helping a new generation of musicians to make their way towards bright futures in music,” he said.
The baby grand piano, now being used for auditions and practice at Newtown, was one of two donated to the school from Sun Princess earlier this year.
The school’s piano tuner, Roger Taylor, carefully restored the piano now at the school while the other has become an excellent source of spare piano parts.
Source: Princess Cruises