Yamaha Maintains Balance

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players seeking a stylish complement for diverse tastes in decor and furnishings. With its unmatched versatility and attractive good looks, the CLP800 series will be the piano of choice for educators, home enthusiasts, event planners and professional musicians.

In addition to our new products, the Clavinova Festival program has been explosive this year. We'll introduce you to 9-year-old Kathryn Brisnehan, an incredible talent and participant at the Clavinova Festival hosted by Good News Piano & Organ of Colorado Springs, CO. Other dealers holding successful first time Festivals include Senseney Music of Wichita, KS and Trombino Piano Gallery in Pittsburgh, PA - the site of a surprise celebrity visit.

Churches continually find the Clavinova an invaluable instrument for worship services and other church functions. More than 1,270 music ministers attended the 25th Annual MUSICalifornia Conference for Church Musicians and Worship Leaders, a post-Easter retreat and musical renewal. Yamaha, an exhibitor for many years, is proud to have been the official piano of MUSICalifornia since 1993.

Education remains a primary commitment to us and through on-going efforts of our dealers, an ever-increasing number of students have access to music through their schools. We'll take a look at a new Clavinova lab in the Valley Pike Elementary School in Kingsport, TN. This lab opens the doors of music to both the elementary students and college students from East Tennessee State University. Through the Cooperative Valley Pike School project, music students from the university come to the Clavinova lab to get first-hand experience working with and teaching music to elementary students.

Many other schools are making Clavinovas accessible to their students. We'll take you to Hatton School in Fordville, ND, where a group of ambitious parents are raising funds to purchase a Clavinova for the school. The Redmon School in Paris, IL now has a Clavinova thanks to Samuel Music Store in Effingham, IL and the luck of music teacher Judy Landes.

It never ceases to amaze us when we hear unusual stories involving Clavinovas. We'll share a humorous approach taken by two students who wrote a "surgeon general's warning" and placed it on their school's Clavinova. In another story, a CVP98 took center stage in one of the most stirring operatic masterpieces of all time and garnered rave reviews for its "acting" ability. We'll also take you to the open seas where a Clavinova set sail on a 77-foot yacht.

We are proud to report on two stories about how the Clavinova is touching people's lives in so many ways. The Keyboard Encounters program at Music and More in Scottsbluff, NE has professionals, non-professionals, singles and couples, parents and teens and retirees coming in to learn to play an instrument they never thought they would have time to learn. Finally, we partnered with the Starlight Children's Foundation, a non-profit organization that spins wishes into realities for seriously ill children aged 4 through 18, to bring the gift of music to a determined girl.

Through our conversations with our dealers and customers, we always strive to design our Clavinova digital pianos to meet the demands of today's technologically advanced society while meeting the traditional needs of musicians. Our sincere thanks to everyone who has helped keep Yamaha Clavinova the industry leader.