109-Year-Old Piano Finds Home in Old Town

The Merc's 109-year-old baby is ready to sing.

The venue's new Steinway and Sons Model O baby grand piano will make music for the first time during tonight's Jazz at the Merc performance.

The piano was built in 1901 and cost $35,000, said Sherry Williams, the founder of the Jazz at the Merc concert series.

Fans of the series, which showcases jazz performances 7:30 p.m. every Thursday, paid for the cost with donations, she said.

"These people were so generous," said Lisa Ferguson, the executive director of the Theater Foundation, which oversaw the donations.

The venue's former piano, an upright, went to the theater's dance studio, and the dance studio's former piano is set to go to a Temecula resident who volunteered to haul it away for free, said Bea Barnett, the theater's marketing manager.

The baby grand's journey to the Merc started when Williams was talking to local conductor Warren Gref about how they could attract higher profile musicians.

The two agreed a quality baby grand piano would draw in good musicians, Williams said. Of course, it would sound better, too.

As of last summer, Williams raised $4,000 - a far cry from what the Merc needed. Then, local jazz lover Nancy Krantz donated $30,000 in her late husband's honor, Williams recalled.

That put them within reach. Jazz fans donated the rest of the money and Williams bought it.

It fits perfectly on the stage, its brown hues are rich and its curves are mezmerizing. "This is a spectacular piano," Williams said.

She discovered her love of music one day when she saw the Pittsburgh Symphony for the first time, she recalled. Later, she took up singing, and it grew to be her life-long passion.

When she moved to Temecula more than a decade ago, she brought that passion with her.

"Temecula has an abundance of good music and art," she said.

Sadly, a lot of people fail to realize this. She runs into people all the time who have no idea the city has a theater, she said. "The need is for the public to be better informed." 

Now that the theater houses a brilliant instrument, a wider range of virtuosos are sure to descend on Temecula, Williams said.