Irving Faust with Carol Shiffman – Photo/Jon Chattman

The Music Conservatory of Westchester (MCW) and Faust Harrison Pianos have announced the establishment of an expansive new Faust Harrison piano retail, restoration, and performance center on the Conservatory’s campus. Scheduled to open in late spring 2011, the piano center will add an entirely new dimension to MCW’s performing arts education facilities.

MCW’s two-building campus is a cornerstone for arts education within Westchester and the surrounding region, both through its own programming, and through the additional arts organizations it houses, including The Steffi Nossen School of Dance and the Westchester Choral Society. Faust Harrison Pianos is the leading independent retailer of new, used, and rebuilt top-quality pianos in the entire New York metro area. The two neighboring organizations will provide the community with an extraordinary level of piano and music education, made possible through a highly-accomplished faculty, a world-renowned team of piano professionals, and advanced music technology.

The new Faust Harrison Piano Center will occupy a freshly renovated 24,000 square foot facility located directly adjacent to MCW’s 216 Central Avenue building in White Plains. Housing piano showrooms, performance spaces, and a state-of-the-art piano restoration shop, the new Center will benefit MCW students in a variety of ways. Faust Harrison Pianos looks forward to providing and maintaining the highest-level acoustic and digital pianos in MCW’s studios and will also offer convenient, expert advice to students about pianos and other keyboard instruments. There will be tours for individuals and groups, as well as a class tour program for schools.

In the future, Faust Harrison’s extensive collection of technologically advanced keyboard instruments, such as the Yamaha Clavinova and Yamaha AvantGrand, can be incorporated into cutting-edge educational programs for MCW students. Faust Harrison will also incorporate the Disklavier, which enhances the piano education experience via its industry-leading performance reproducing technology. The winner of School Band & Orchestra Magazine’s 2011 Best Tools for Schools Award, the Disklavier also won the Music Teachers National Association’s (MTNA) Frances Clark Keyboard Pedagogy Award. In addition, the MCW campus will become perhaps the only one in the nation to include an on-site “old-world craftsmanship” piano restoration center.

“The Music Conservatory of Westchester, which recently celebrated its 80th anniversary, is proud to serve 3,700 students ranging in age from two to 87 years, representing more than 30 nationalities and hailing from 102 communities in a five county area,” said Carol Shiffman, Executive Director of The Music Conservatory of Westchester. “We are thrilled to welcome Faust Harrison Pianos to our campus and look forward to the many benefits our students, faculty and community will reap from this unique collaboration.”

The new relationship between MCW and Faust Harrison Pianos will also bring more high-quality musical performances to the Westchester arts community, as both organizations will regularly host joint and individual live performances by a wide variety of musicians. There will be expanded MCW student, faculty and guest artist recitals, as well as solo and ensemble performances by the same outstanding classical, jazz, experimental, and avant-garde musicians who have made “Piano Row” a critical destination for music performance in New York City, available now in White Plains.

“Faust Harrison Pianos and MCW, combined, offer more than a century of musical knowledge, educational expertise, top-quality instruments, and acclaimed concert performances,” notes Irving Faust of Faust Harrison Pianos, also the exclusive New York retailer of Yamaha Pianos, an integral supporter of the new MCW-Faust Harrison collaboration.

“Yamaha provides the widest and most sophisticated array of musical instruments and technologies available in the world today,” continued Faust. “We’re thrilled to provide these exceptional instruments to help expand the range of pedagogy and performance at the new center.”

Both MCW and Faust Harrison Pianos are operated by professional musicians dedicated to maintaining quality and integrity in their teaching and in their instruments, and to serving the community. In addition, the Conservatory is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, is a member of the National Guild for Community Arts Education, and is chartered by the New York State Board of Regents.

Learn more about the Music Conservatory of Westchester at http://www.musicconservatory.org. Learn more about Faust Harrison Pianos at http://www.faustharrisonpianos.com.

About the Music Conservatory of Westchester
Founded in 1929, the Music Conservatory of Westchester (www.musicconservatory.org) is a non-profit community school of the arts, providing music, musical theatre education, and music therapy for people of all ages and abilities. The Conservatory’s 36,000-square-foot facility in White Plains offers a Recital Hall and 43 acoustically designed classrooms and teaching studios. Their comprehensive programs, which serve 3,700 students annually, include performing ensembles, musicianship classes, student performances, master classes, workshops, and more. All students receive free admission to the Conservatory’s annual series of faculty recitals and children’s concerts. This year, the Conservatory awarded $110,000 in scholarship support and tuition assistance to more than 115 of its students. The Conservatory is chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, a member of the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts, and is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music.

About Faust Harrison Pianos
Established in 1983 by concert pianist Sara Faust, and subsequently joined by composer and pianist Michael Harrison, Faust Harrison Pianos is the nation’s pre-eminent retailer of high quality new, used and restored pianos. It is the exclusive dealer in the greater New York metropolitan area for Yamaha, Bechstein and Mason & Hamlin pianos. It is the world’s largest independent retailer of fully rebuilt “vintage era” Steinway and Mason & Hamlin pianos. Restorations are performed to the very highest standards in the Faust Harrison state-of-the-art piano restoration center, in Westchester, NY. The Faust Harrison lineup of pianos can be seen and played in its showrooms in Manhattan (207 West 58th Street); Westchester (214 Central Avenue, White Plains, NY – opening this spring); and Long Island (277 Walt Whitman Road – route 110 – Huntington, NY – also opening this summer). Faust Harrison Pianos strives always to create, represent and sell the best possible pianos at the best possible values. It provides its wide range of pianos and piano services to individual and institutional clients throughout the world.

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Garrick Ohlsson with Carol Shiffman

The Music Conservatory of Westchester recently celebrated their 80th Anniversary milestone with a special year-end performance featuring world renowned concert pianist and Conservatory alumnus Garrick Ohlsson. The 80th Anniversary Concert, held at The Performing Arts Center at Purchase College, also highlighted the Conservatory’s performing ensembles. A second concert, showcasing the Conservatory’s youth ensembles, took place in the afternoon.

A native of White Plains, NY, Garrick Ohlsson began his piano studies at age eight at the Music Conservatory of Westchester and, at thirteen, entered the Julliard School. Since his 1970 triumph as the first American winner of the Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw, Mr. Ohlsson has established himself worldwide as a musician of magisterial interpretive and technical prowess. Long regarded as one of the world’s leading exponents of the music of Frédéric Chopin, Mr. Ohlsson delighted the Conservatory’s audience with an all Chopin program.

Performing in the first half of the evening concert were the Conservatory’s Chamber Orchestra, Teen Vocal Ensemble, Brass Ensemble, Piano Quartet, and Piano Partners. The afternoon concert featured performances from the Conservatory’s Youth Chorus, Suzuki Violins, Junior Strings, Chamber Strings, Brass Ensemble, Piano Trio, Piano Partners, and String Quartets. Participating students ranged in age from 5 to 65.

At a reception following Mr. Ohlsson’s performance, Carol Shiffman, the Conservatory’s Executive Director, presented him with framed photos from a concert in the late 1970’s in which he appeared as soloist with the Conservatory’s orchestra. The photographs were provided by the orchestra’s conductor, Gabriel Banat.

“The Music Conservatory of Westchester’s 80th Anniversary Concert was a fitting end to a marvelous year filled with many wonderful anniversary-themed events,” said Shiffman. “We are privileged to have such a distinguished artist as an alumnus and proud of all our students who did such a phenomenal job in both the afternoon and evening performances.”

In addition to performing recitals worldwide, Mr. Ohlsson has appeared as a piano soloist with many of the top symphony orchestras across North America and Europe. He is an avid chamber musician who has collaborated with the Cleveland, Emerson, Takács and Tokyo string quartets, among other ensembles. A prolific recording artist and Grammy Award winner, Mr. Ohlsson can be heard on the Arabesque, RCA Victor Red Seal, Angel, Bridge, BMG, Delos, Hänssler, Nonesuch, Telarc, and Virgin Classics labels.

Shiffman continued, “The Conservatory is a center where the arts are celebrated in an integral, accessible way. Regardless of age or ability, our doors are open to all. Our faculty is dedicated to nurturing the casual enthusiast, up-and-coming performer, and everyone in between.”

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We’ll be posting photos all week from the event!

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Your donation in any amount is greatly appreciated!  To donate, contact us here.
BUILDING FUND – RED LEAVES
Naming Rights for the Building $2,000,000
Recording Studio $50,000
Keyboard and Composition Lab $30,000
SMART Board $5,000
Wireless Internet $3,000
Sound System for the Music Therapy Institute’s Observation Room $1,000

SCHOLARSHIP FUND – BROWN LEAVES
Scholarship Support for 2 Semesters – 45 minute lessons $3,200
Scholarship Support for 2 Semesters – 30 minute lessons $2,500
Scholarship Support for 1 Semester – 45 minute lessons $1,600
Scholarship Support for 1 Semester – 30 minute lessons $1,250

PROGRAMS AND NEW INITIATIVES FUND – ORANGE LEAVES
Monthly Support Group at Gilda’s Club, Cancer Recovery Program $3,000
“Adopt an Ensemble” – 1 Large Ensemble for a Year $1,500
“Adopt an Ensemble” – 1 Large Ensemble for a Semester $750
“Adopt an Ensemble” – 1 Small Ensemble for a Year $750
“Adopt an Ensemble” – 1 Small Ensemble for a Semester $375
One Support Group at Gilda’s Club, Cancer Recovery Program $250
General Operating Contribution Any Amount

INSTRUMENT FUND – YELLOW LEAVES
Rebuilding a Piano $6,000
Timpani $2,000
Piano Regulation and Tune-Up $1,500
Adult-Size Guitar for the Music Therapy Institute $600
Portable Keyboards for the Music Therapy Institute $500
Cymbal for Drum Set $200
Tongue Drum $150
Child-Size Guitar for the Music Therapy Institute $150
Seat for Drum Set $100
Kids Djembe for the Music Therapy Institute $60
Set of Twelve Small Maracas $50
Rainsticks for the Music Therapy Institute $20

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The Music Conservatory of Westchester kicked-off their milestone anniversary year with an 80th Anniversary Celebration on Saturday, Oct. 3.

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By Roberta Hershenson

THE sounds of a rock band blasted through a downstairs studio on Central Avenue here, while upstairs teenagers rehearsed for a production of “Guys and Dolls.” These days, you are as likely to hear jazz or a Broadway tune as an aria at the Music Conservatory of Westchester, but that does not mean the school has forgotten its Bach, Mozart and Beethoven.

“Classical music will always be one of our main areas of focus,” said Carol Shiffman, the conservatory’s new executive director, who is grounded in the classical arts. “The heart of what we do here is private instruction one to three times a week. A knowledge of music theory will help in any field.”

Ms. Shiffman said she was chosen from a pool of 80 applicants to succeed Aaron Flagg, who left in June after five years at the helm to become dean of the Hartt School at the University of Hartford. She arrived at an encouraging time for the conservatory, a nonprofit institution founded in 1929 by a group of musicians including the cellist Pablo Casals.

Fall enrollment is holding steady at 700 students despite the weak economy, and summer enrollment rose this year. The school’s $3 million budget has remained level for three years, and the conservatory provided $110,000 in scholarships to more than 115 students this year, made possible in large part by contributions from the board of directors.

To mark its 80th anniversary, the conservatory is planning a series of events, beginning at 1 p.m. on Oct. 3 with a free public celebration featuring proclamations, faculty and student performances and a birthday cake. Other events for the year range from children’s concerts to a performance by one of the conservatory’s former students, the pianist Garrick Ohlsson, on May 8.

In an interview in her office on her third full day in the job, Ms. Shiffman said she loved “being on the ground” where people connect with art. A trim and energetic former dancer who founded her own troupe before becoming an arts administrator, she has worked as a senior grants officer for the California Arts Council, as the dean of music at Cornish College of the Arts near Seattle and as the dean of the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College in Purchase. The move to Purchase in 2007 brought her back to her native New York — her mother ran a youth arts center in Queens — and she lives in Rye.

“Her background was impeccable,” said Christine Meyer, the conservatory’s development director. “She has so many connections to different facets of the arts, and we’re a building that wants to be an arts center in White Plains.”

The 36,000-square-foot school, which features 43 soundproof teaching studios and classrooms and a jewel-like recital hall, is already used for weekly rehearsals by groups like the Westchester Choral Society and the Hudson Valley Jazz Band. The Steffi Nossen School of Dance is in the building, as is the conservatory’s own Music Therapy Institute. The school also holds programs involving a few thousand children and adults throughout the county.

The Renata Scotto Opera Academy, which brought renown to the conservatory a few years ago, is defunct, but a two-week intensive vocal program is still held each summer. Vocal classes — like acting for singers and sight-singing, along with instrumental classes for young children — are among the most popular courses this fall, Ms. Shiffman said. She added that the school hopes to make Latin jazz and other “more ethnically specific music” available.

The school’s philosophy is rooted in a “set-your-own-goals” approach, rather than a “you-must-practice” one, she said. “There are ways of inspiring beyond fear, that focus on the joy of playing.”

The Music Conservatory of Westchester’s 80th anniversary celebration will begin at 1 p.m. on Oct. 3 at the conservatory, 216 Central Avenue, White Plains. Admission is free. Information: musicconservatory.org or (914) 761-3900.

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The Board of Trustees and Carol Shiffman, Executive Director, of the Music Conservatory of Westchester invite you
Saturday October 3, 2009 at 1 p.m. to celebrate the kick-off of our 80th Anniversary Year! Reception and music by MCW students followed by MCW faculty performance and special guests! A press conference will be held to announce 80th Anniversary Year Highlights as wellas our 2009 Conservatory Faculty Teaching Awards and Faculty Recognition Wall.

Michael Stadther & Helen Demetrios Recital Hall
Music Conservatory of Westchester
216 Central Avenue, White Plains, NY 10606

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