Roseland Music Society's 25th birthday appeal
An Appeal – A Grand Piano for Cornwall for all to EnjoyThe Roseland Society has its 25th birthday in 2027, where we are now launching a celebratory season..
Donate to "A Grand Piano for Cornwall for all to Enjoy".
Between September and December 2025 we launched an appeal for a Grand Piano for Cornwall. Our objective to raise £15,000 towards the goal of acquiring a wonderful transformative instrument not just for the Roseland but for the whole of Cornwall. Well we did it! The piano a Yamaha S6 was purchased from Coach House Pianos for £27,000. Now we have it and have lent it to International Musicians Seminar, Carrick Concerts, Music on the Moor, St Endellion Summer Festival - the piano has been a huge hit and more than 2000 people have heard it in over 20 professional concerts in its first year.
The challenge now and the reason we are continuing to raise funds through the Piano Circle is to support the transport of pianos to destinations across Cornwall (in itself an expensive and skilled job) to venues across Cornwall, tuning and maintenance.
The piano arrived in Gerrans for its launch concert which was given (without fee) by concert pianist Yulia Chaplina in February 2026 to a packed house. The following morning a free relaxed family concert was also given where more that 90 people in young families came and learnt about the piano in their own community.
We have a roll of honour for those 88 inviduals who "sponsored" a key at a minimum of £100 donation or made smaller donations. A particular thanks to Cornwall Council Community Capacity Fund, King Harry Steam Ferry Company Ltd our headline sponsor and other major corporate givers including Idle Rocks and St Mawes Hotel, Roseland Festival, Carrick Concerts.
But if you want to know more .......read on.
THE IDEA
The idea behind acquiring the grand piano is that in rural Cornwall there are very few pianos of quality around which concerts of high quality, rehearsal, tuition, learning and public enjoyment can be arranged. Roseland Music Society and other local music societies and festivals (with whom we intend to share this piano once acquired) rely on using uprights and electric pianos - which do not fully explore the beauty, depth, colour and sound of a quality 7 foot concert grand instrument. By purchasing a robust grand piano (as pictured) of concert hall quality, musicians can be invited of international standing without compromise, young pianists, singers, and other instrumentalists can have an opportunity to play with a real grand in recital, before examinations or concerts, and the quality of sound (taken for granted in concert halls elsewhere) can be enjoyed by audiences in Cornwall too.
WHY ROSELAND MUSIC SOCIETY
Roseland Music Society's winter season has been at the heart of the social, musical and artistic activity in Cornwall and on the Roseland for nearly 25 years, bringing a huge variety of music; classical, jazz, early music and choral music along with a stream of eminent. musicians of all backgrounds to our churches and halls and drawing audiences to our peninsula. We are a registered charity and can receive gift aided donations and awards from charitable trusts. All our trustees, and hard working committee members are volunteers. In fact so many people in our community have volunteered over the years and our members have been such stalwarts in supporting the running of the society that thousands have actually attended the concerts! We are also part of a wider grouping of small village concert promoters working together (spread across Cornwall) and local music festivals who will all benefit from the presence of a quality grand piano which we at Roseland Music Society intend to share.
ENGAGEMENT WITH YOUNG PEOPLE
The Society sees as a critical part of its role is to provide educational opportunities for young people both in the immediate area of the Roseland and have an impact in a much wider catchment. In the past year 2024-2025 for example we have organised, through our Roseland Youth Music programme, workshops and music demonstrations in all the Roseland primary schools and at the secondary school The Roseland Academy as well as hosting participatory events and working on community projects with other local organisations such as the hugely successful “Roseland Carols” exhibition organiied with the Roseland Museum and Old Cornwall Societies which took place in Truro Cathedral.
in April the RMS new piano was loaned to IMS Prussia Cove for their Spring Seminars where it was vi
In May 2026 the piano featured in an open Masterclass for young musicians where Antoine Preat, the French pianist with Geirthrudur Godmansdottir the cellist gave a free masterclass in the village hall in Mylor (Tremayne Hall).
In September 2026 the piano will be in winter residence (when not out in the Cornwall community) in the new Music School at Truro School.
THE PIANO
The Yamaha S 6 piano was chosedn with the help of two concert pianists and a number of experts and advisers. The brief included a requirement to be robust, moveable, high quality sound, affordable and available. The Chairman of the society accompanied by William Howard, the concert pianist and formerly an Artist in Residence at the Hall for Cornwall went to audition about 15 pianos at Coach House Pianos in Swansea and selected the Yamaha S6 pictured, we have also been advised in its choice by Malcolm Mckeand, a leading piano technician with strong links to Cornwall, and our regular piano tuner Clive Ellison.
THE ASK: Donate, Join Our Piano Circle, Sponsor the Piano, Naming Rights ...your own ideas?
This is a public appeal for support from across Cornwall. We intend for the piano to be a huge asset for a wide group of active organisations in music. We received written support from Carrick Concerts (Mylor and Flushing), Nova Music Festival fo St Austell, and St Endellion Summer Festival for an application to the Cornwall Council Community Capacity Fund for our piano fund. AND WE HAVE JUST HEARD WE HAVE WON AN AWARD OF £12,751
Also Roseland Musiic Society members have also been generously donating in the past two weeks. And we are NOW well past the half-way mark to its acquisition with a target for this instrument of £24,500, with the balance to provide cover, stool, system for humidity control etc to protect this valuable instrument.
Join our Piano Circle
The Yamaha piano has 88 keys. If you donate £100 to our fund (plus Gift Aid if you are a tax payer) you can be inscribed in our Piano Circle group - have one of those keys as your symbolic donation to the acquisition and we will thank you by name with hopefully 88 others in our season's programmes (if you wish) . Or if you are generous contribute two keys or an octave? This group will remain focused for the long-term on making the piano available for the wider community and costs of moving it between venues when required. All the keys are now allocated but don't let that stop you joining the PIano Circle!
Donate and join RMS Piano Circle
Donate. Just make a small contribution
All contributions however small are welcome we know many of our society members are pensioners and those on low incomes. Here is the link Donate to "A Grand Piano for Cornwall for all to Enjoy".
HOW TO MAKE DONATIONS
Other ways to donate funds.
Digital Using the digital link will manage gift aid (receipt your gift) and GDPR reporting requirements easily for you and the Society (it is a little abrupt - apologies - gift aid details and receipt information comes up after the donation! ). Donate any amount you like.
Donate to "A Grand Piano for Cornwall for all to Enjoy".
Cheque. If you want to make a donation by cheque please make your cheques payable to "Roseland Music Society" and send to TIm Smithies, Chairman, Roseland Music Society, c/o Little Narabo, Old Tram Road, Devoran, Cornwall TR3 6NF remembering to include your full name, home address and (if relevant) declatation that you claim gift aid and are a UK taxpayer) and so we can send a receipt for your tax return.
Bank transfer You can also make a donation direct to our bank account. Please apply to timsmithies@gmail.com for the details of the bank transfer
In person at concerts of the Roseland Music Society, our team can take payments and documentation with our card machines. Please be clear that you wish to donate to the Piano fund. We may also be present at other performances and events to canvas support for this vision
WIth excited and hopeful thanks from the Committee of Roseland Music Society Registered Charity No. 1098140
