It was 5 a.m., and the first piano classes of Modesto Junior College's (MJC) fall semester were scheduled to begin in two hours. The only catch was that the new Yamaha Clavinova lab still had to be installed! The Modesto, CA, college was intent on having 21 new, state-of-the-art CLP311 models available to its students from Day One, and Barkers Music of Modesto was intent on getting the job done.

The MJC Yamaha Clavinova Lab ready for its
first class, and installed hours before.

"This was a pretty unique situation, but it was a lot of fun," said Kyle Barker, owner of Barkers, who provided the CLP311s to MJC. With the help of eight workers, including Mrs. Barker, the CLP's were loaded on rented trucks at 2:00 a.m. and brought to MJC. "They did a wonderful job installing the lab," said Shirley Woodward, MJC instructor.

A wonderful job indeed. The students, MJC staff and Modesto community are so enthralled with the Clavinova Lab that college enrollment has sky-rocketed to a 70% increase, and media interest in the lab has been unprecedented for the school. The lab is also credited with attracting more students to Saturday practice. So far, MJC has hosted three lab open houses for its faculty and students.

MJC students and faculty try out the Clavinova
CLP311 at one of the college's open houses.

"Everyone who comes by the lab and sees our beautiful CLP311s says, 'Wow,' " added Woodward. "The students and teachers love the recording capabilities, and the 88 keys are fabulous -- touch-sensitive and weighted. In addition, the instruments and benches are very sturdy, something we didn't have before. We've been extremely happy."

MJC was among the first to purchase the new Clavinova models. In addition to the 311s, the lab holds a CVP69 teacher unit. The lab is used for an estimated 65 hours per week by 600 students.