Press Releases

Museum of Modern Art

BUENA PARK, Calif.—Yamaha Artist Services, Inc. (YASI) is providing a Yamaha Modus H1 piano to The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) for their new, two-year film series, An Auteurist History of Film. The series, organized by Charles Silver, Curator, Department of Film, draws from MoMA's rich collection to focus on the role of the director as the primary force behind a film's creation and serves as a basic introduction to the development of cinema as a predominant art form of the 20th century.

The Yamaha Modus H1, will be played by pianist and composer Ben Model for the silent films in the series. Model has served as a silent film accompanist for MoMA for the past 25 years, and will perform and improvise scores for silent films offered in this new series.

Model and Makia Matsumura, YASI Production Coordinator, were already acquainted through their mutual love of performing silent film accompaniment. Matsumura and James Steeber, Director of YASI, extended an invitation to MoMA representatives, including Model and Silver, to visit the showroom at YASI. When Model played the Yamaha Modus, he determined the feel of the weighted keyboard was pleasing, particularly considering that most shows require two hours of improvisational playing.

Modus H01

"The Modus coming to MoMA as a performance instrument was a partnership waiting to happen," says Steeber. "The sound emanating from the Modus H1 filled the Bartos Theater when it was test-played. This is a great opportunity for audience members to experience a wonderful new instrument being used professionally in an ideal context."

For further information about An Auteurist History of Film and a schedule, visit www.moma.org.

For more information about Yamaha products, write Yamaha Corporation of America, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622-6600; call (714) 522-9011; email infostation@yamaha.com; or visit www.yamaha.com.