KAWAI IN
EDUCATION
The home of piano education
The piano is one of the essential building blocks of music education.
A music department with new, high quality pianos says loud and clear that it is committed to providing the very best music programs for existing and potential students.
Kawai is a specialist piano company and has long been an innovator in piano design, building quality and beauty into all its models, from a go anywhere digital to the world’s most advanced concert grand pianos.
At Kawai we have helped music departments across Australia to give their students quality pianos to play: new instruments that are replaced on a regular basis and the right mix for education of uprights, grands and digital pianos.
We do this through an efficient leasing program or other preferred financing option that helps music departments make the most of their budgets.
And we do it through a range of pianos specially selected with features that make them ideal for use in the education environment.
In 2012, Kawai celebrates its 85th anniversary and we are pleased to commit this year as a key year for us in music education. You will see a focus on pianos for education on this website and across all our communication channels throughout 2012. You will also see our continued support for music performance events, piano pedagogy and encouragement of the finest young players.
We want music departments to use Kawai as their best resource for quality instruments with
tailored advice, special upgrade deals and financing options across acoustic and digital pianos. With the strong Australian dollar, there has never been a better time to upgrade to quality Kawai Made in Japan pianos for education.
At Kawai, we help you achieve the best result for your music department. And we back it up with the best support sales and service for the years ahead.
A history in music education
It was Shigeru Kawai, the son of the founder of the company, who developed Kawai’s early strong links with music education.
In the 1960s, he established a network of music schools across Japan and the Kawai Academy of Music to train qualified music teachers for the schools.
At the same time, Shigeru built the Kawai Piano Technical Centre to train service technicians in the art of caring for pianos. This facility today trains all Kawai factory technicians and graduates the renowned Kawai Master Piano Artisans.
Meeting the needs of music departments. In Australia, expert Kawai personnel offer assessment and consultation to music departments, reporting on the current age and condition of the instrument inventory and making recommendations for financially effective upgrading of pianos, both acoustic and digital.
We meet the needs of all types of institutions, all levels of students, all kinds of spaces. We can provide everything from a classroom of digital pianos for a secondary school to a handcrafted instrument for the college hall or university sound studio.
An environmental leader. Kawai was the first piano manufacturer to be awarded the ISO 14001 certificate for environmental practices. Today it continues with recycling practices within the manufacturing process and reforestation of areas that produce fine timbers for pianos.
Proud to be an innovator. The very first Japanese piano action was designed by Koichi Kawai in 1927. For 85 years, the company has been a leader in the development of technology such as the carbon fibre parts used in its Millennium III piano action and the use of its anachoic chamber for digital piano sampling.
Who has chosen Kawai? A number of different institutions upgrade their instruments with Kawai – from Scotch College Melbourne to Scots College Sydney, from the Queensland Conservatorium to the University of Western Australia and the AMEB in NSW, Queensland and WA.
The art of piano performance. Kawai is piano sponsor of the McDonald’s Performing Arts Challenge and has also built a strong relationship with Suzuki Talent Education. The Suzuki highlight of the year is the gala performance at the Sydney Opera House, where young pianists win hearts with astonishing recitals at the Shigeru Kawai concert grand.
In the wider world of the professional arts, Kawai is a major sponsor of The Australian Ballet and a sponsor of Opera Victoria, the MBS FM classic music radio network across Australia, Venue 505, Upstairs Jazz Café and a number of classical and jazz festivals.
Kawai is also a sponsor of the 2012 Sydney International Piano Competition and the 2013 Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference.
The Kawai Education Team
John Blanch, General Manager, Australia & New Zealand
John studied piano (AMEB) for many years and played keyboard in local bands as a teenager. Now one of the best known figures in music retail, he began his career as a junior at Palings Music at Lismore in country NSW. John joined Kawai in 1990 and has a great depth of experience in all aspects of music education, from the largest conservatoriums and universities to the individual music teacher.
Warrick Baker, Manager, Acoustic Pianos for Education
Warrick learned organ and piano as a child and completed AMEB practical and theory. A lover of jazz piano, Warrick performed at clubs in and around Brisbane. In the 1990s, he began a successful career in music retail. His experience in sales and as a promotional artist and clinician for both piano and organ led to his appointment as piano manager for Allans Music, where he brokered the renewal of the piano fleet for AMEB Qld. Since joining Kawai in Sydney, Warrick has worked with both Macquarie Con and Queensland Con in the design of their piano fleet replacement programs.
Mark Della-Libera, Manager, Digital Pianos for Education
Mark is an accomplished musician and technology wiz when it comes to Kawai digital pianos. He studied digital music production & performance and electro acoustic interfacing at Macquarie University in Sydney, before joining Kawai. Each year, Mark travels to Kawai headquarters in Hamamatsu, Japan, to assist in developing the next generation of digital piano technology.
