The Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra will celebrate the return home of a newly refurbished antique Steinway with a Piano Party concert on April 18. Earlier in the day, the orchestra will host a free Open House & Instrument Discovery event, with a live lobby performance by The Canadian Chinese Orchestra, and an open rehearsal where audiences can get a taste of the evening’s concert.
“We open the doors at 3, and there’s instrument petting zoos from Remenyi and Long & McQuade,” explains CBSO Music Director Martin MacDonald.
The open rehearsal offers a behind the scene look at how an orchestra prepares for performance, including excerpts from the program.
“We wanted to make something a little more family oriented,” he says. “8 p.m. can be late for younger kids.” As he points out, even the younger set can get a taste of the concert, and also see younger musicians perform on stage. The rehearsal, and concert, includes performances by the winners of concerto competitions of the North York Music Festival, and the CCC Toronto International Music Festival.
The Clifford Poole Concert Grand Piano
The Piano Party concert marks the return of a venerable Steinway that once belonged to the founder and first Music Director of the orchestra.
“Our piano is called our Clifford Poole,” MacDonald explains. “It’s named after the founding Music Director of the orchestra.” On his retirement, Poole donated the Steinway grand to CSBO. “It’s a beautiful old Steinway from 1930 I believe.”
After nearly a century, though, the beloved instrument was in need of some care. “It’s shown its age through the years,” Martin says. While some minor repairs had been done over the years, it was time for a full restoration.
“It’s the namesake of our founding Music Director. We opted to having it fully refurbished,” he says. “There’s been a restoration fund at the CSBO for the piano for quite some time.”
The accumulated funds, however, weren’t sufficient for all the Steinway required. The remaining funds came from a charitable foundation, one with an emphasis on supporting children’s education and community groups. The connection came via a 2024 concert that the orchestra presented with special guests Sultans of String.
“One of their values is their commitment to Reconciliation,” MacDonald notes. The foundation was taken with the show, and the Sultans of String’s dedication to the inclusion of Indigenous artists and voices.
“They provided a very healthy donation to the orchestra.”
As a result, the piano was packed and shipped to Europe to receive its refurbishment at the hands of seasoned crafts people.
“The piano has now arrived back in Toronto,” Martin says. It will take up its new home at the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto, where CSBO holds its concerts and events. “Because the hall doesn’t have its own resident instrument, this allows us to share the piano with the CCC.”
There is a potential for rentals, and sharing the instrument with other organizers and events.
“There’s now a beautiful Steinway available for use.”
The piano’s first stop in Canada was Montreal, then Toronto to the Remenyi House of Music, where the final touches, including tuning, will be performed.
“A huge thanks we give to Michael Remenyi and the Remenyi House of Music,” Martin says. Michael Remenyi, as it turns out, plays in the orchestra’s cello section. He facilitated the complicated shipping process for the instrument, as well as coordinating those last adjustments.
While the mission was a success, it was not without its unforeseen moments. Travel by ship over international waters offers its own set of variables. The piano concert had originally been planned for earlier in the year.
“We had to wait,” MacDonald says. “It’s coming back a little later than we expected.”
The Concert
In keeping with the spirit of the organization, which has partnered with local student music festivals for years, as well as the goals of the funding foundation, the concert features young artists who were winners of the 2025 North York Music Festival, and the Toronto International Music Festival, which is organized by the Chinese Cultural Centre. MacDonald adjudicates at the North York Music Festival.
“We wanted to make sure that when we brought it back, we wanted to have young artists to play on it for its return.”
The Program
The concert program features music with a focus on the return of spring.
It includes:
- Alice Ho: Jubilation of Spring (2016)
- Vivaldi: Violin Concerto No. 1 in E major, Op. 8, RV 269; La primavera (Spring) from Le quattro stagioni (The Four Seasons), featuring Tina Sievers, violin, Concerto Winner of the 2025 North York Music Festival
- Saint-Saens: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22, Andante sostenuto, featuring Michael Jia, piano
Concerto Winner of the 2025 CCC Toronto International Music Festival - Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37, 1. Allegro con brio, featuring Karen Yoshida, piano, Concerto Winner of the 2025 North York Music Festival
- Florence Price: Symphony No. 1 in E minor
The concert opens with Alice Ho’s Jubilation of Spring. “A wonderful, beautiful, just charming piece of music,” says MacDonald
Violinist Tina Sievers and pianist Michael Jia are both 15, he says, while Karen Yoshida is university age.
“All wonderful young musicians,” he says. MacDonald has just wrapped up adjudicating at the 2026 concerto competition. “Every year, I’m blown away by the level of talent.”
The orchestra closes the concert with Florence Price’s Symphony No. 1. “She was the first African American female composer to have a symphony premiered by a major orchestra,” he notes. It premiered in Chicago in 1933, just a couple of years after the Clifford Poole Steinway was manufactured, as it happens.
“It’s such a great piece of musc. It’s really inventive. Lots of terrific tunes, and great rhythms.”
CSBO April 18, 2026
The events take place on Saturday, April 18, 2026.
- 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. — Instrument Discovery & Lobby Performances
- 4:00 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. — Free Open Rehearsal
- 8:00 p.m. — The Piano Party
Find details and concert tickets [HERE].
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