Going for a song: Centrale’s piano prize was unveiled this morning

A Croydon school is about to get an early Christmas present in the form of a Yamaha baby grand piano, worth nearly 10 grand, in a special giveaway being staged at the Centrale shopping centre. And it is the Croydon public who get to decide which school gets the prize.

The event has been organised by Centrale and the Whitgift Centre, and they have shortlisted three schools to be in with a chance of winning the piano, which was unveiled this morning alongside the shopping mall’s festively decked Christmas tree.

From 11am tomorrow until 4pm, the public have the chance to vote for which school they think will be the most deserving recipients of this terrific prize.

The shortlisted schools are:

Orchard Park High School
“Orchard Park is re-building the music and performing arts department, and we need good quality instruments. We would use a quality instrument like this in our assemblies, in our new 1-1 piano lessons, in our concerts, with visiting musicians, and at our planned whole school musicals. The musical palace is ready to be built, we just need the tools!”

Coloma Convent Girls’ School
“If we were given this new piano, we would be able to allow our pupils to have access to a world-class piano every day. We often have two classes at GCSE, we always get good numbers for A Level and usually send at least one girl to university to study music each year. Giving them a world-class piano to practise on would simply be amazing.”

Meridian High School
“Like many schools, Meridian is underfunded. We are lucky that we still continue to run a music programme as so many have opted to take music off the curriculum in light of budget cuts. To take music away from those that are already living on a shoe string would indeed be a cruel choice. The kids here are very passionate about music … They have the desire but not the facilities.”

Ballot boxes will be in Centrale. The choice is yours…

There will be a Piano Playing Extravaganza at Centrale throughout the day tomorrow, with performances from classical concertos to punchier pop tunes to push the piano to its limits.

“We’ve found that music can really enhance our visitors’ shopping experiences and thought there was no better way to bring this to life at Centrale and Whitgift than with a celebration of our local music talent,” said Ian Harvey, Centrale and Whitgift’s marketing manager.

“We hope putting the power in the public’s hands for the Yamaha baby grand piano giveaway will help continue to build our areas’ love and accessibility to music.”

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