Encouraged by positive feedback about the Prescott model bass purchased by Bob Oppelt, Tom made another and entered it in the Maker’s Competition at the biennial International Society of Bassists convention. They award certificates and medals for workmanship and “tone” for as many basses as they find deserving. Happily, our instrument received a Tone citation! This public acknowledgement brought increased credibility and awareness of Tom’s bass work, increasing that aspect of shop production.
Another Schantz piano was ready for delivery to Kenneth Slowik, director of the Smithsonian’s classical music programs. It had as much fancy veneer, hardware, and ormolu as we could manage. 2009 was the bicentennial of Haydn’s death, and Schantz was the composer’s favored piano maker, so Ken wrote a few notes from a trio inside the instrument. This piano continues as a mainstay for museum concerts, recordings and special events.
An attractive English harpsichord by J. & A. Kirckman from 1779 was restored for the Flints in Delaware, filling a significant role historically in their increasingly important collection.
Meanwhile, as an offshoot of the shop’s performance services, Barbara was nudged into the production side of recording. After decades of tuning, being on standby for touchups and breaks on these occasions, she had marked scores for keyboard players and observed many producers’ methods. Opera Lafayette, a local opera company that presented overlooked or forgotten works of significance in historically appropriate style, had quickly been gaining an international reputation. Naxos offered them a contract for twelve CDs: one opera per year. Barbara was always there maintaining the harpsichord, but after five operas, conductor Ryan Brown asked her to produce the tightly-scheduled sessions.
2009 was also the bicentennial of Mendelssohn’s birth, so Ken Slowik was determined to record his piano trios. Barbara was busy dealing with the piano, but he insisted that she also oversee the sessions, so we were down that rabbit hole. Another ambitious recording used two of our pianos owned by Lambert Orkis.
