STEINWAY COMES TO CAPE MAY Piano Festival Set for Today

As part of the free "Steinway Comes to Cape May" Piano Festival, there will be a musical feast with leading performers of classical, jazz and pop music at a FREE concert at Cape May Convention Hall, tonight, June 6, 2015 at 7:30 p.m. "Saturday Night at the Steinway Piano" presents seven top artists performing on two Steinway & Sons pianos; one is the 9-foot concert grand piano once owned by legendary virtuoso pianist Vladimir Horowitz. The concert will be dedicated to the memory of Al Rinaldi, the late Chairman of Jacobs Music Company, a tireless champion of pianists, from young students through the leading lights of the international concert stage.

"Saturday Night at the Steinway" will feature classical repertoire presented by three of the region's leading pianists: Bill Carr, Igor Resnianski and Veda Zuponcic. Jazz lovers will enjoy Andy Kahn's interpretations of the Great American Songbook, the artistry of composer and arranger Domenic Cicchetti, and the vocals of TV and Hollywood legend Peggy King & The All-Star Jazz Trio. Rock and blues fans will enjoy Asbury Park's always-energetic Stormin' Norman Seldin.

One of the pianos on which they will all perform is a concert grand crafted by Steinway & Sons in the early 1940's and accompanied the Russian-American classical virtuoso Vladimir Horowitz on his historic 1986 tour of Russia. In 1989, he performed on this piano while recording his final album, "Horowitz: The Last Recording."

This memorial event caps the four-day piano festival sponsored by Jacobs Music Company, the region's exclusive representative for new and authentically restored Steinway & Sons pianos. It is also a fundraiser to benefit their musical initiative for The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and to demonstrate Rinaldi's core belief that "a life without music is a life without meaning." All concerts and performances during the festival are free of charge, and voluntary donations will be dedicated to the Jacobs Music Piano Fund for CHOP.

"This concert is a rare opportunity to combine so much that matters deeply to our family and our company," said Robert Rinaldi, Senior Vice President Sales, Merchandising and Customer Service of Jacobs Music. "Our relationship with Steinway & Sons allows us to give this amazing array of performers an exciting opportunity to perform on Horowitz's renowned instrument. They are sharing the stage as a gift to the memory of my father, who would do everything he could to foster their success as professional artists. It feels perfect to present them here in Cape May, where my dad developed a life-long friendship and musical relationship with one of this city's legends of jazz, the late Steinway artist George Mesterhazy. We are proud that our events take place the same week as the 4th Annual George Mesterhazy Tribute Concert. It's as if my dad and George are side by side in the celebration of music. "

"As for how this became a fundraiser for CHOP," Rinaldi continued, "our goal is to present the hospital with a Steinway grand piano to be installed in the hospital lobby. Our family was transformed by their world-class care when my daughter Giulianna's life was saved at CHOP. Almost seven years ago, Giulianna was born with Downs Syndrome with severe heart defects and received several procedures including open-heart surgery there. I recall the long walk from the Wood Center garage through the lobby to the surgical center when my wife and I had to hand off our daughter to the surgical team and hope for a positive outcome. Our hope now is that families taking that same walk and living similar experiences will be uplifted by beautiful, live piano music playing in the lobby performed by patients, their families and the doctors and nurses at Children's Hospital."

About Jacobs Music Company: Jacobs Music Company is the area's exclusive representative for new and authentically restored Steinway & Sons, Steinway's Boston and Steinway's Essex pianos. Jacobs also represents many other quality piano manufacturers from around the world. Jacobs Music Company has six showrooms, including its flagship location at 1718 Chestnut Street in center city Philadelphia. Other regional piano showrooms are located in Willow Grove and Whitehall, PA, Lawrenceville and Cherry Hill, NJ and Wilmington, DE. Further information is available on their website www.Jacobsmusic.com or by calling 215-568-7800.

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