he mammoth “Concert for New York City”—presented at Madison Square Garden on October 20 by VH1, AOL, Miramax, and Cablevision—was a benefit unlike any other. Yamaha did its part by providing several pianos for the galaxy of artists who performed there.

The most striking contribution was a Yamaha C3 conservatory grand piano that Elton John autographed and was later auctioned on eBay® to raise disaster relief funds for the Robin Hood Relief Fund (www.robinhood.org) in New York. Yamaha donated the piano through its Corporate Artist Affairs department, and it eventually sold online to an anonymous bidder for $30,200-making it among the most valuable of the dozens of concert items that went on the block to help people and families victimized by the attacks on September 11.

“We’re very grateful to Yamaha for its generous support of the Concert for New York City,” says VH1’s Bob Morrison. “The instruments that were used on the show and the generous donation of the Elton John autographed piano really helped to create one of the most historic musical events of our time.”

In addition to the donated C3, Yamaha pianos from Yamaha Artist Services in New York highlighted much of the show. For his performance during the concert, John played his customary CFIIIS concert grand piano. Sir Paul McCartney, who combined forces with VH1 and the other sponsors to bring about the concert, played “Let It Be” on a C3 conservatory grand piano; Five For Fighting played its single “Superman” on a Disklavier® GranTouch™ piano; and a parade of top artists performed on the pianos, including a C7 conservatory grand piano, for the entire evening of music.

The concert’s roster included The Who, Bon Jovi, Bono and The Edge of U2, David Bowie, Destiny’s Child, Janet Jackson, Backstreet Boys, Mick Jagger, John Mellencamp, Eric Clapton, Billy Joel, James Taylor, Melissa Etheridge, Macy Gray, Marc Anthony, Goo Goo Dolls, Jay-Z, and others.

“We started discussing something like this right away on September 12,” Morrison says. “There was a sense of helplessness, of wanting to do something but not knowing what we could do to help.”

According to Yamaha Artist Services, the request for a piano that Sir Elton John could autograph for the auction came at the last minute, scarcely 24 hours before the show was to begin. Morrison says he appreciated the fast reaction from Yamaha. “It was one long last minute,” he laughed. “This whole thing happened on the fly.”