Papal Visit & Steinway!

Piano Centre Edmonton proudly sponsored the rental of a glorious 9 foot Steinway and Sons Model D Concert grand for the recent Papal Mass at Commonwealth Stadium here in Edmonton on July 26th, 2022. The Canadian College of Catholic Bishops reached out to us through a local contact, looking for a piano rental for the Papal Mass. We immediately knew that only one piano could live up to the profile of the event; a Steinway Model D 9 foot Concert Grand. So the wheels were set in motion and we undertook the task of coordinating the logistics for having a piano in place for this historic event.

Here’s a little look behind the scenes, on what it takes to get a 9 Foot piano Safely from our showroom, to Commonwealth Stadium, and back again.

First and foremost, the piano itself requires several VERY specialized people to make it all happen.

When you’re moving a $250,000 piano, the movers are SUPER important. They have to have the right equipment, personnel and techniques to do the job safely. At a net weight of almost 1,100 pounds, there is no room for error. For this move, Piano Centre Edmonton contracted Dorcy’s Piano Moving to move our Model D to and from the event.

The crew from Dorcy’s Piano Moving arriving VERY early to deliver and set up the piano.

Coordination is everything for an event like this. There is no free reign to just “do what it takes” to get it done.

All of the movers, and our in house technician, all needed accreditation from Global Affairs Canada to be able to be on site, as the security for the Papal Visit was extremely tight. Careful coordination with the production crew, surrounding delivery and return timetables, stage layout, tuning schedule and many other factors was needed.

The Piano arrived on site at Commonwealth at 5:15AM, was setup by 5:45AM and was tuned and ready by 7:00AM. Right on time. Upon arrival, there was security escort from the entrance to Commonwealth Stadium to the stage where the piano was placed.

The RCMP went over every inch of that piano with a fine tooth comb for security purposes. Then our technician was able to get to work to do the tuning to make it ready for the Mass.

All in all, a pretty massive endeavour for all involved. Lots of coordination, communication and detail oriented thinking. In the end we had a beautiful instrument, in a beautiful place, and everyone was happy!

Piano Centre Edmonton was proud to have been able to be a part of this historic visit by the Pope.

In Place, tuned and ready for Mass