The Cornell Center for Historical Keyboards presents an end-of-year gala celebration: SUSTAINING PIANOS – A Gala-Symposium in honor of Ken Walkup’s Retirement. On Friday, December 10 at 8:00 pm, Xak Bjerken, Miri Yampolsky, Roger Moseley, Malcolm Bilson, and Mike Lee will share the Barnes Hall stage alongside guest artist Martha Guth and students on multiple historical pianos from the center’s collection.
This will be followed the next day by a mini-symposium – “Sustaining Historical Pianos” – that focuses on the intersecting themes of instrument restoration, conservation, and future directions for instrument collections. Guest panelists include Ken Eschete (restorer) and Kenneth Slowik (Curator of Musical Instrument Collection at the National Museum of American History and Artistic Director of the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society). Events take place in Lincoln Hall B21 starting at 10:00 am on Saturday, December 11.
The weekend is a celebration of the career of our longtime colleague and friend, Ken Walkup, who not only has served as Cornell’s chief piano technician but has been a key contributor to the Center’s maturation in more ways than we can acknowledge.
The events are free and open to the public. Campus visitors and members of the public must adhere to Cornell’s public health requirements for events, which include wearing masks while indoors and providing proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test.
