Yamaha, Make-a-Wish Foundation® Grant Corben, IL Youth's Wish for Yamaha Disklavier GRAND Piano

COLLINSVILLE, IL (March 19, 2004) — On March 12, 2004, the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Metro St. Louis – supported by the generous assistance of Yamaha Cares, an employee-based, charitable giving initiative of Yamaha Corporation of America – presented Wish Teen Sarah, of Cobden, IL, with her dream piano – a Yamaha Disklavier.

Sarah, who aspires to become a professional musician, has been playing piano since the second grade. Her love of piano and music is so tremendous that she literally played her old piano to pieces.

"The piano I had before had chipped keys that cut my hands when I played," Sarah said. "It also went out of tune often, and the keys got stuck. Even so, I've loved the piano so much and played it every day."

Injured fingers and sticking keys will no longer be a concern. Sarah's new piano was created for the needs of professional musicians and boasts numerous technological features, which will complement and enhance the budding professional's natural abilities. The Disklavier allows the player to record and play back performances, create multi-track arrangements and also play audio/MIDI CDs as well as floppy disks – handy features for Sarah to use when critiquing her own compositions or those of the friends she has begun to teach.

Sarah, pictured with Yamaha's George Litterst and her new Disklavier, plans to build her own musical studio at home and pursue a professional music career.

"I am going to use many of these features in my piano lessons," Sarah said. "I can record my students when they start taking lessons; and, after a couple of months, I can put in the diskette of when they were beginners, and they would be able to really see how much they have improved. I think this will be a great way to give them confidence that they are learning."

To help Sarah learn to navigate all the piano's features, Yamaha Piano Division representative George Litterst made a special trip to Cobden specifically to provide Sarah with a day-long piano tutorial. In addition to a day of piano lessons, Yamaha Cares also provided Sarah with an additional surprise – a CD autographed by Grammy® Award-winning musician Elton John.

Volunteer Make-A-Wish Wish Granter Dennis Dintelmann said Sarah's wish was fulfilled with "teamwork and determination tempered with compassion." He elaborated with, "Corporate Yamaha provided the generous support to make this wish possible, and the people of Yamaha, the people that worked on her wish, became totally involved with helping Sarah. It is a true example of what the foundation hopes for all – that everyone come together to Share the Power of a Wish.®"

Yamaha Corporation of America manufactures a complete line of musical instruments, professional audio products, customer-driven support products and computer-based products targeted to both the amateur and professional markets. A wholly owned subsidiary of Yamaha Corporation Japan, it is the largest of all global subsidiary companies with several sales and marketing divisions-the Piano Division, the Band & Orchestral Division, the Professional Audio & Combo Division and Commercial Audio Division – encompassing digital, acoustic and concert grand pianos, professional audio products, band and orchestral instruments, guitars, drums, portable keyboards, synthesizers and accessory products.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. It is the largest wish-granting charity in the world, with 75 chapters in the United States and its territories and 27 international affiliates on five continents. With the help of generous donors and more than 25,000 volunteers, the Make-A-Wish Foundation has granted more than 110,000 wishes to children around the world since 1980. The Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Metro St. Louis serves southern Illinois and eastern Missouri and granted 199 wishes in its 2003 Fiscal Year. To find out how you can get involved with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, call 800-548-5058 or visit www.stlouis.wish.org.

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