MADISON — There will be a Piano Recital and Hymn Sing on Sunday, Nov. 18, at 4 p.m. at Our Lady Queen of Peace Church, 401 S. Owen Dr.
Yana Avedyan, DMA, will be the guest artist. She will perform the following works: Bach’s Prelude and Fugue 1 WTC No. 2, Beethoven’s Sonata Op 27 No. 1 movements 2 and 3, and Liszt’s Rhapsody No. 6.
Avedyan will be playing on the new Steinway Model B Grand Piano. Amy Yanzer, director of liturgy and pastoral music at Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish, explains the background of the new piano.
Search for new piano
“It has been on my three to five-year plan since starting at Queen of Peace to find a new instrument for the sacristy. The old piano was donated and not nearly large enough for our worship space,” said Yanzer.
“In August of 2017, our longtime tuner Brian Mott was selling Hailun pianos and decided to discontinue selling pianos. He had a six-foot Hailun that he needed gone from inventory and offered us a very good price if we wanted to buy it,” said Yanzer.
“I played it, along with Gayle Westfahl and my friend Greg Buchburger from St. Thomas Aquinas, and we agreed that it would be good to move to our space for a trial period of three months. It was a great improvement, but there were certain things about the instrument that we found frustrating and difficult for being a brand new piano.
“So I went to Farley’s House of Pianos and told them what we were doing, as well as the Steinway & Sons store in town. I also included the Liturgy Commission in on this process, as well as wrote about it in the bulletin so the parish knew what was going on.
“We tried instruments from both stores — they were very gracious about lending us an instrument and keeping it tuned and well maintained, until we decided to buy one. At that time, an anonymous donor came forward who greatly preferred the Steinway.
“Two other donors also gave toward the new piano at that time, so we were able to purchase the Steinway Model B, which was custom built in New York, along with castor (movable wheels) and a humidifier /dehumidifier system to maintain a consistent level and preserve the life of the instrument.
“Six months after this donation, we are celebrating with a Piano Recital and Hymn Sing in our church. Music is a gift from God, and this instrument will help us sing and pray, and last many (100) years,” said Yanzer.
Guest pianist
Guest pianist Yana Avedyan is originally from Kharkiv, Ukraine, where she attended a music school and studied with Glazirina Tatiana, majoring in piano performance. She has taken other master classes.
In the spring of 2011, she made her debut as a soloist with the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra. In 2014, she was one of the winners of the Annual Beethoven Competition. In 2016, she was a finalist in the University of Wisconsin (UW)-Madison Concerto Competition. She completed a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree in piano performance at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in May of 2018.
All are invited to the Piano Recital and Hymn Sing. A reception will follow.