Clavinova Festivals Continue to Generate Excitement and Sales

Dr. Michael Veech conducts the Clavinova Keyboard Ensemble at Dan Ferguson Music’s Festival

Yamaha Clavinova Festivals have a well-deserved reputation for bringing joy and satisfaction to piano students, their teachers, and parents, as well as for increasing store traffic and sales. In fact, the program is so successful that last year’s tally shows a 21% increase in Festivals over the prior year, with participants increasing from 10,000 to 12,340. Four recent non-competitive Festivals follow this winning tradition.

This past March, Eckroth Music in Billings, MT attracted seven teachers, 139 students (ages five to adult), and 200 listeners for its first Festival, held at the Billings Holiday Inn. Two Clavinova CVP207 and two CVP205 digital pianos were onstage, with 12 additional units on display. For the Grand Finale, coordinator Charlene Waddingham featured her adult Keyboard Encounters students in a tail wagging rendition of Party Cats. “It was a hoot!” she says enthusiastically.

Two months of weekly teacher training sessions focused attention on the new CVP200 series, as did Eckroth’s loaner placement of four CVP207s and CVP205s. Waddingham assigned a store-based keyboard consultant to each teacher; students were rewarded with additional CLP920 raffle tickets for in-store practice sessions. “The store activity was tremendous,” says Waddingham, noting 267 kids practiced while keyboard consultants set parents up with headphones and Follow Lights®. Seven CVP200 series models were sold. She adds, “(Clavinova Festival National Coordinator) Lori Frazer was great. Her enthusiasm, support, and training helped make this event a success.”

Meg McKenzie dances at the Dan Ferguson Music’s Festival

Eric Dunham, age 12, won the CLP920 and his family upgraded to a CVP203. “I like all the different kinds of instruments, almost everything you can imagine,” says Dunham. “The accompaniments to songs are pretty neat and so are the disks and Follow Lights to learn new songs.”

Paramount Arts Center in Ashland, KY played host to “The Imagination Celebration” held by Dan Ferguson Music of Ceredo, WV, and the Ashland Area Music Teachers Association last March. This was this new Yamaha dealer’s first Clavinova Festival. “We knew it would be good but were very pleasantly surprised,” says salesperson Dick Lucas. “It was extremely successful.” He estimates they sold 8-10 Clavinovas, mostly CVP207s.

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