Yamaha Corporation of America and Yamaha Peninsula Music Center in San Jose teamed up to lend the school two CFIIIS concert grand pianos; two C7, one C6, and three C3 conservatory grand pianos; and nine U3 acoustic upright pianos for the duration of the three-week annual program. Seventy students from around the U. S. and the world attended the school and used the Yamaha instruments.

"They were just invaluable for us," says California Summer Music Director Dr. Tim Bach. "The CFIIIS matched our hall wonderfully. It was a good solo piano for us. The smaller grand pianos were used in our daily chamber music coaching, in teaching studios, and in our master class room, and each of our piano students and our composers had access to an upright for practice at any time of the day. We couldn't have done our summer program without the loan of the Yamaha grand and upright pianos."

Guest artist Gilbert Kalish, the pianist of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players and a prolific recording artist, gave a master class using a Yamaha C7 piano.

"It's a real good relationship," says Yamaha District Manager Chuck Dadisman. "People come from all over the world, and it's good exposure for the Yamaha brand name. We've been with California Summer Music since the beginning five years ago."

Bach said he was grateful for the school's five-year relationship with Yamaha. "We never have any difficulty with the Yamaha pianos and the quality is always very good," he says.

The school combines private lessons with group meetings, student and faculty performances, and informal activities such as "sight-reading parties" to hone the skills of talented young musicians. Students audition for inclusion in the school's Performance Program, and prospective composition students have to submit examples of scores they have written. Dr. Bach and many of the other faculty members are associated with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Beethoven and Friends for the Homeless

orth Carolina native Greg McCallum's concerts feature an engaging repertoire, from Bach to the avant-garde and popular 20th century idioms. The versatile pianist performs often in his home state of North Carolina and abroad, using commentary to foster appreciation for great classical music. McCallum is also actively committed to humanitarian causes, as was evident last May at the concert, "Beethoven and Friends for the Homeless," which he performed on his new Yamaha C7 conservatory grand piano. The benefit drew a capacity crowd of 560 people and raised more than $11,000 for the Inter-Faith Council of Chapel Hill, NC.

The concert was the first of many for McCallum's new C7 piano, purchased from Piano & Organ Distributors in Durham, NC. Sales Manager Chris Gilbert says, "Greg came to the store and became intrigued with the C7. He called back the next day and said, 'I've got to have that piano.'"

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Greg McCallum at the keyboard of new Yamaha C7