Concert pianist thanks West Cork community for saving his 120-year-old grand piano
David Syme: 'I make most of my living by touring internationally and during lockdown, I lost about 50 concert dates, and had to cancel our 'Living Room Concerts' series. I was so bereft and feared having to sell the piano.' Picture: Anne Marie Cronin Photography
An international concert pianist who feared having to sell his beloved 120-year-old piano during lockdown has thanked the public for helping to save his “musical voice”.
Piano virtuoso David Syme, an American who lives near Castletownbere in West Cork, where he has performed his 'Living Room Concerts' in his home for 15-years, was speaking ahead of his inaugural artist-in-residence concert at UCC on Friday.
Last October, as the pandemic raged and the arts sector collapsed, Mr Syme was on the brink of having to sell his 1900-built concert grand piano, an instrument on which he has practised and performed for more than 30 years, in a bid to secure income.
“I make most of my living by touring internationally and during lockdown, I lost about 50 concert dates, and had to cancel our 'Living Room Concerts' series. I was so bereft and feared having to sell the piano,” he said.
“But strangers came to us and said what can we do to help. And now the piano has been saved.
“People felt our home concerts add to the cultural life of this community and they did not want to see my musical voice silenced.
“We got all sorts of offers of help and employment. It was very touching to see this support for someone from another country. I’ve been here for 15 years but essentially, I’m a blow-in.
And after a difficult 18 months, Mr Syme has now been unveiled at the UCC/Ritmüller Classical Artist in Residence and he is set to perform a limited ticketed concert event in the Aula Maxima on Friday.
He is now using his beloved piano to prepare for his UCC concert, which will feature the music of Chopin, Liszt, Schuman, Bach, and some surprises too.
He will perform on a stunning €220,000 Ritmuller RS280 from Pearl River Piano Group, an in-kind donation from the piano manufacturer to Mr Syme, which will be housed in UCC.
His concert in the 174-year-old Aula Maxima will be among the first held with a live audience in the university since the beginning of the pandemic.
Mr Syme has played in concert halls all over the world, including Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Centre for the Performing Arts in New York, and has lived in Castletownbere with his wife Suzanne since 2005.
An alumnus of New York’s Juilliard School and Indiana University, and a protégé of the legendary Jorge Bolet, he has recorded dozen of CDs as soloist with orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic and the Czech National Symphony, and was given an honorary diploma by the Royal Irish Academy Of Music for his “contributions to Ireland’s cultural landscape”.
Mr Syme said he was deeply appreciative of the opportunity afforded by his new position at UCC.
John Godfrey, of UCC’s Department of Music, welcomed Mr Syme’s appointment, which will see students benefit from Mr Syme’s experience through a series of special lessons.
UCC president John O’Halloran said UCC’s reputation for musical excellence could only be strengthened through the new relationship with Mr Syme and the Pearl River Piano Group.
Tickets for the limited capacity UCC event are available from here, while tickets for Mr Syme’s first living room concert in almost two years, on October 24, with capacity limited to 50, are available on his website.
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