Yamaha Artist Services, Inc. Marks Five-Year Anniversary At Historic Fifth Avenue Location

Olga Kern's reherses at YASI.

NEW YORK CITY—Yamaha Artist Services, Inc. celebrates the five-year anniversary of the state-of-the-art space it occupies in the landmark former Aeolian building at 689 Fifth Avenue. During this time, the facility has distinguished itself as a premier performance space that has hosted a variety of concerts, music competitions, rehearsals, product launches and tests, photo shoots, master classes and countless other events.

Continuing their tradition of technological innovation and master craftsmanship, the Piano Salon, located on the third floor, and the Band & Orchestral Atelier, located on the 11th floor, house some of the nation's best instrument technicians and Yamaha's unique, musical products. The space has also distinguished itself as the launch pad for the introduction of numerous groundbreaking piano products to the U.S. market, the most recent of which is Yamaha's AvantGrand hybrid piano.

In the opinion of its program's current director James Steeber "Yamaha Artist Services utilizes the word 'unique' in a great deal of its daily life. There is simply no other place in the United States, not connected with a university, where musical artists may meet, develop projects, make fine visual and audio records of their work, and generally have such unprecedented access to world-class pianos kept in premium playing condition."

Yamaha Artist Services, Inc. offers musicians a convenient and prestigious location. The center's Piano Salon features a range of Yamaha pianos, including a collection of concert-ready CFIIIS nine-foot concert grand pianos. In addition to these instruments, Disklavier performance reproducing pianos are available for a variety of innovative applications.

The fine pianos kept on hand for artists' use reflect Yamaha's century of piano craftsmanship. Yamaha is the official piano of the Metropolitan Opera, Symphony Space's Leonard Nimoy Thalia, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Le Poisson Rouge in New York, as well as the San Francisco Opera, the San Francisco Ballet, Wolftrap, and other significant venues. Prominent classical artists who perform using Yamaha pianos include Abbey Simon, Alexander Kobrin, Frederic Chiu, Oxana Yablonskaya, Olga Kern, Maria Joao Pires, Vladimir Viardo, Mei-Ting Sun, and Michael Tilson-Thomas.

Virtual Screening Auditions

Pianist Beth Levin recently commented, after a recital, that YASI "always presents a perfect environment for a pianist to feel at home."

Pianist and Yamaha Artist Frederic Chiu added, "The YASI showroom feels like a home away from home. I've given and attended numerous concerts and masterclasses there, made audio and video recordings and judged competitions. Not to mention the many rehearsals, often arranged at the last minute. The staff is extremely accommodating! It's location in mid-town cannot be more convenient for me, coming from outside the city by train. I truly feel it as an extension of my own studio."

The Piano Salon also houses the only U.S. installation of Yamaha's proprietary Active Field Control (AFC) sound system. This cutting-edge sound processing technology actually shapes and corrects sound acoustics and can "tune" the hall's acoustics to assimilate a proper concert hall setting. Not only does it provide magnificent acoustics for the performance space, it also enables artists to experience the sound of concert pianos in a more natural aural setting.

Entering the clarinet at the B&O Atelier.

The 11th floor Band and Orchestral Atelier, which features a beautiful showroom fully stocked with professional instruments, often including the latest Yamaha prototypes, also houses one of the best-equipped custom instrument shops in North America. Designed for professional players and operated by world-class technicians, the Atelier's custom shop offers virtuoso orchestral musicians, soloists, and jazz artists comprehensive repair resources, unique customizations, and one-of-a-kind instrument design capabilities.

Yamaha Artist Services, Inc. occupies two floors of the 14-story French Renaissance building that originally housed the Aeolian Piano Company, which produced sophisticated player piano mechanisms, among other products 1887 until 1985. Former tenants include the fashion house Gucci, and the building remains the location of the landmark Elizabeth Arden Red Door Salon. The site is the former location of William Rockefeller's mansion.

To learn more, visit www.yamaha.com/yasi or visit Yamaha Artist Services on Facebook here.

To learn more about Yamaha Artist Services, Inc. and Yamaha Corporation of America, write to P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622-6600; telephone (714) 522-9011; or visit www.yamaha.com.