Meet members of the production team involved in the project, the filmmakers, the piano maker, and the piano producer. Award winning Australian artist Fiona Joy will perform tracks from her new album Signature – Synchronicity. The event features an exclusive meet and greet with Wayne Stuart of world renown Australian Stuart & Sons pianos – the inventors of the revolutionary new piano design used in classical concerts all over the world.
Stuart & Sons Pianos incorporate unique design features that challenge many orthodox dogmas found in traditional piano building practice. A key device central to the design ethos is the Stuart bridge agraffe. This simple but effective method of defining the string’s speaking length by bending the wire whilst containing the reaction forces establishes new design parameters for the soundboard. This coupling principle promotes the vertical motion of the string improving clarity, dynamic range and sustaining qualities due to greater control over the decay transients. The ancient two pinned system found in standard pianos has variable termination parameters and by comparison produces high levels of noise and damping.
The expanded tonal range of the Stuart piano can be easily harnessed by four rather than three foot pedals. There are two pedals specifically for dynamic and textural manipulation by reducing the travel distance of hammer and key as well as the traditional shift pedal reducing the number of strings struck. These pedals can be either used independently or simultaneously by a simple ankle rotation technique.
Innovation enables exploration, every aspect of the design concept has been subjected to critical analysis and development. The result is a remarkable musical instrument capable of sounding in to the ninth octave range. Anecdotal evidence points to many of the innovations having every prospect of becoming industry standards.
Details:
April 30 – Early afternoon. Watch the video clips, chat with the piano maker (Wayne Stuart), the producer (James Englund), the film-makers (four companies) Including NASA and ISS Footage, and a private concert opportunity with Fiona Joy.
April 30 – Evening cocktail event. Watch the videos, meet the filmmakers, the piano maker, and the piano producer.
May 1 – Mid-afternoon Matinee concert and video viewing. Additionally, there will be a fundraiser for Motor Neuron Disease.
For ticket info, head here.