In 2005, there was a community effort to raise money to purchase a concert grand piano for the auditorium in LaSells Stewart Center in Corvallis, Oregon.

This one-year effort – involving many, many small donations as well as a few larger ones – was so successful, there was enough money to purchase a 9-foot Steinway concert grand piano, build a special climate-controlled storage room for it backstage, and create a maintenance fund to cover repairs.

The community came together and took action for love of music. Out of that effort also arose the well-regarded Steinway Piano Series, which brought – and continues to bring – international concert pianists to Corvallis.

The Steinway Piano Series is one of many activities sponsored by Corvallis-OSU Piano International (COPI), whose mission is to bring people together through music. We are discovering that as people come together for our piano events and engage in the music, the feeling of community becomes stronger.

It’s really quite amazing what music – and one piano – can do for a community.

~Bonnie Esbensen