All of our instruments get set-up upon arrival with us, this is to ensure they're in perfect condition when you take them home. My name is Frances, I work in the Instrument Department here at Forsyth and in this post I'll take you through the process of setting up a Stentor Student Violin so you can see exactly what's involved! The violins arrive with bags covering their cases to ensure they arrive in pristine condition. So the first step is to unwrap them! Opening up the case reveals the violin, which is carefully padded to protect it during delivery. This is then removed so I can begin inspecting the violin. The first job is to have a peak through on of the f holes and make sure the soundpost is still standing. You can just see it below, to the left of the bridge inside the f hole closest to the camera. The soundpost rarely falls in delivery, but it's always a good idea to check just in case! Next up I check the bridge is in order, starting by moving it into the correct position. On this one the bridge was slightly to far to the...
The Forsyths Blog
We kicked off the summer season with a busy month of events this June. From workshops to large scale concerts featuring over 40 performers! See all upcoming events here On the 5th June we welcomed Paul Harris as part of his 'How to Sight Read' book tour. His books are available to buy here --- We welcomed Benjamin Frith and Heidi Rolfe back for another wonderful concert of piano duets --- If you didn't get enough jazz from the manchester jazz festival, then we hosted an evening of jazz with the Edward Harris-Brown Trio --- We once again welcomed Susan Bettany for another of her wonderful piano workshops --- We finished the month with a spectacular concert featuring the works of Australian composer Wendy Hiscocks and over 40 students from Chethams school --- Our social media was also busy last month! Here's Olly showing off his new Squier Bass VI he bought from us --- James had fun with a KNA banjo pickup --- The instrument department asked people on our social media platforms to guess what wood this...
May was a busy month for music, here at Forsyth and across Manchester! From the Manchester Jazz Festival to the North West Guitar Show, read on to see what we got up to in May We're always up to something, keep an eye on our Facebook and Instagram for the most up to date info! --- It wouldn't be May in Manchester without the Manchester Jazz Festival and the 17th-26th May saw the return of Manchester's longest running music festival. Once again we supplied pianos for the piano trail. Which this year saw 14 pianos placed around the city (including our usual street piano outside the shop!) It was amazing to see so many entries for the competition to find Manchester's best 'Street Pianist', all you had to do was post a video on social media of you playing one of the street pianos. The judges are still deciding on the winner so stay tuned... --- Alongside the piano trail we also hosted one of the performances as part of the festival. On the 24th May we were joined by legendary Jazz Pianist Julian Joseph for a fantastic evening of...
Manchester Jazz Festival Piano Trail 18 April to 26 May 2024 (Download your own copy of the leaflet here.) We're proud to be teaming up with Manchester Jazz Festival for a third year bringing the joy of street pianos to venues far and wide across Manchester for everyone to enjoy. This year there will be 14 pianos across the city including 'new comers' Aviva Studios (home of Factory International) and Trafford Palazzo near the Trafford Centre. Old Favourites include the Yamaha grand pianos at Harvey Nichols and the Corn Exchange as well as the iconic street pianos at Piccadilly and Victoria Stations. The pianos will be appearing over the next few days ready for the launch on Thursday at Manchester Piccadilly Station from 12.30 where performers from Chethams School of music will be starting us off with some jazz ensemble music. There are lots of prizes to be won including a Yamaha digital piano - for details on how to enter etc visit:- https://manchesterjazz.com/mjf2024-piano-trail/ Thank you to Yamaha Music with helping to sponsor the...
The weather has been warming up, and Spring has sprung into Forsyths! Carry on reading to see what we got up to in March --- Through Sickness and HealthA Charity Concert for Manchester Mind On the 22nd March we hosted "Through Sickness and Health," a charity concert supporting Manchester Mind. This unique event intertwined music, dance, and visual art to explore the journey from mental illness to mental health. Keep up to date with upcoming events here --- Yamaha Piano Day at Forsyths We had a wonderful day on the 23rd March, featuring all things Yamaha Piano! Yamaha's expert demonstrators and specialist piano staff were on hand throughout the day to answer questions, and we had two dedicated workshops too! --- We were delighted that the episode of SalvageHunters filmed in Forsyths last year aired on the 13th March on Quest! It was an interesting watch - it's amazing what old oddities a shop can accumulate over 166 years of history! --- The wonderful Stephen Campbell once again worked his magic in our window ---...
We got an extra day this February, and we made sure to pack it with even more music! --- We had two very different recitals in February! Award winning Luke Jones presented us with a selection of works for piano. His playing has been described as possessing “...extraordinary clarity and a seemingly infallible touch that revealed colours and atmospheres of the most sensitive of stylists…” (Christopher Axworthy – Co-Artistic Director of the Keyboard Trust) We then had an unusually piano free recital with local group Laiton Trumpet Quartet showcasing arrangements of well-known pieces for 4 trumpets, which is no small feat! Made ever more impressive by how pleasing they were to listen to. A wholeheartedly refreshing programme and superb musicianship blew away the audience at Forsyth - another excellent free recital! See our upcoming events here --- We shared some of our history with a couple of Throwback Thursday posts on our social media. Look at how our piano showroom has changed since the 1950s! We also shared the story of...
We were recently contacted by Salford Museum and Art Gallery about a grand piano in their collection. This led to a deep dive into our archives which resulted in us being able to trace its history from its creation in 1922 to now. Carry on reading for the story of this beautiful piano's history!The piano is a Blüthner grand piano and was originally made in Germany in 1922 for the Shinwell family. It was designed to fit with the panelling in the room where it stood. The Shinwell's then moved from Germany to Alderley Edge sometime before 1943, where they then sold the piano to us on 10/09/1943. This is when we would have stamped the stock code '17393' inside it. The piano was then sold on 27/06/1944 to 'Dale' in Northwich. We then bought the piano back from Dale on 04/07/1947, when we would have added the second stock code '17642'. The piano was sold once again to Dr Ghosh of Salford on 11/07/1947. Dr Ghosh unfortunately died in September 1948 and he bequeathed his collection of notable books and his piano to Salford's Library and...