Bluestone Steinway a Milestone


Shenandoah Journal, The (Dayton, VA)

July 3, 2007

Author: Isaac Sweeney

STAFF WRITER

Estimated printed pages: 1


The "Madison Bluestone Steinway," painted by Mia LaBerge, of
Rockingham County, and commissioned by Dr. Elizabeth Swallow, of
Harrisonburg, celebrates the centennial of James Madison University's
founding in 1908.

Piano-making legend Steinway & Sons has a tradition of building art
case pianos to commemorate special events.

In 2005, JMU received the All-Steinway School designation from
Steinway & Sons. JMU is the first and only university in Virginia to
receive this designation and the school shares it with such top-scale
music conservatories as Juilliard, Oberlin, the Cleveland Institute
and Philadelphia's Curtis Institute.

The All-Steinway School title means JMU uses only Steinway pianos for
concerts and practice.

The "Madison Bluestone Steinway" is the first Steinway art scale piano
that honors a university or All-Steinway School, according to
LaBerge's Web site, LaBergeart.com. Swallow and LaBerge unveiled the
piano at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in April 2007.

The piano features the buildings of JMU's quad with a surrounding
landscape. Sign painter Jonathan Luster hand-lettered the piano and
the piano contains bluestone inlays by Steve Brydge, of Brydgeworks in
Dayton, with stones donated by Frazier Quarry in Harrisonburg. A
company in New York made the column-like legs for the piano.

After touring the United States, JMU will sell the "Madison

Bluestone Steinway" at auction in 2008.

Also to commemorate JMU's centennial, Steinway & Sons, along with
Jordan Kitts Music in Washington, D.C., will sell 100 limited edition
"Madison Bluestone" pianos. LaBerge, a 1992 graduate of JMU, will
hand-paint the music desk of each. The sale of the limited edition
pianos will support music and arts at JMU.

Copyright (c) 2007, Byrd Newspapers, All Rights Reserved.