The Watertown Concert Association’s Steinway & Sons grand piano was delivered from Schmitt Music in Bloomington, Minn., to the D.D. Miller Auditorium stage Friday morning.
The Model B instrument, built in 2000, was formerly owned by Butch Thompson, the original pianist for Garrison Keillor’s “Prairie Home Companion,” a weekly radio variety show that aired live from 1974 to 2016. Even though it is more than 20 years old, it’s in perfect condition and looks brand new.
The piano replaces the 70-year-old instrument used by both Concert Association performers and the Watertown School District. Purchased used by the Concert Association in 1962, it was in rough shape. It didn’t hold a tune and needed expensive repairs. The cost of a used piano was about the same as the repair costs of the old one, so the Concert Association Board decided to purchase a different one.
They found Thompson’s piano at Schmitt Music, which was selling it for Thompson’s wife. Butch Thompson died in 2022. The Piano cost about $70,000, funds which were raised by the Concert Association. The Watertown Area Community Foundation generously kicked in half that amount, or $35,000, and the Watertown School District added another $5,000. The school also will use the piano for music lessons and school performances.
Tim Porter and David Friedges of Schmitt Music loaded the instrument onto their truck early in the morning in Bloomington, Minn., and made their first-ever, four-hour drive to Watertown. They unloaded it from the truck, moved it to the D.D. Miller Auditorium stage and assembled it.
Concert Association member Suzanne Olawsky was the first to play the piano on the stage before it was moved to its special, climate-controlled “garage,” built by Scott Davis of the Watertown High School maintenance staff.
Concert Association Board President John Larson and Board Member Doug Olawsky were also on hand for the piano delivery,
The new piano will make its public debut when the band Rhapsody & The Blues performs at the D.D. Miller Auditorium on Saturday, October 26. That will be the second concert of the six-concert season. Season tickets are still available at the Watertown Concert Association’s website at concertassociation.net/watertownsd.