2013 August PASO Magazine

A piano with a colorful history
has found a home in the Paso
Robles Inn Ballroom. The Weber,
constructed in part of hand-carved
rosewood, once belonged to Ignacy
Jan Paderewski. It traveled by Canadian
Pacific Railway for the late
pianist’s 1907-1908 concert
tours of North America, just
before his return to Poland to
serve as Prime Minister.
In 1910, the piano was auctioned
and purchased by the town
of Walhachin, British Columbia.
Now dormant, the once affluent
colony of 300 was once popularized
as “Canada’s Camelot.”
An enterprising musician, Fanny
Faucault, often played the piano
at lavish community celebrations.
In true devotion to her townsfolk,
Fanny relinquished her earnings to
help subsidize improvements to the
town hall (complete with a spruce
plank floating dance floor) while she
and her hired orchestra performed
jazz, ragtime and classical music for
British businessmen and gentleman
farmers. Tragically, the First World
War blighted the settlement when
97 of its 117 men enlisted for battle,
many of whom did not return.
Over the next 50 years, Paderewski’s
piano remained unharmed in
Walhachin until its donation to
University of British Columbia’s
School of Music. In the ’60s, the
university was a far cry from the
glamor the piano once knew. The
makeshift music building was a
former forestry products lab, where
concrete blocks that once crushed
timber were stored. Former faculty
member Hans-Karl Piltz was quoted
as saying that “it was in terrible
condition because it had been used
as a barroom piano. It would go out
of tune as soon as you looked at it.”
The Paderewski piano
with a past
arrives at
Paso Robles Inn
By Melissa Chavez
A subsequent relocation to the
school’s Cecil Green Park in 1976
put the piano back into service
as a social event rental, but
facility renovations found the
instrument in the way and it
was moved to the music school’s
aging auditorium. By 2007, the
Paderewski Heritage Committee
purchased the piano, where it was
housed at the Polish Consulate in
Vancouver for nearly six years
until a permanent location could
be found.
When the Polish Ministry
of Foreign Affairs announced a
relocation of its offices from
Vancouver to Edmonton, the
Paderewski Heritage Committee
considered Paso Robles the ideal
location to house the 19th-century
instrument. Marek Żebrowski,
Artistic Director of the Paderewski
Festival in Paso Robles,
traveled to Vancouver and approached
the Paderewski Heritage
Committee with an offer
to provide it permanent residence.
After much consideration,
Paso Robles was chosen
as the ideal place in which Paderewski’s
piano could serve as “an
ambassador of Polish culture.”
On July 8, the piano arrived
safe and sound to a well-deserved
tuning and an official welcome to
Downtown Paso Robles. Finally,
Paderewski’s piano can remain to
inspire a population that is discovering
his ties to the California
region where the artist found
healing and respite.
The Weber grand now replaces a
previous instrument, affectionately
dubbed “the square,” which graced
the original El Paso de Robles
Hotel where Paderewski also
resided. The “Square” will be
displayed in the Acorn Building
lobby on the northeast corner of
12th and Park Street.
Yet another piano, called the
“O,” is a Steinway that has been
used for intimate Paderewski concerts
at Cass Winery by distinguished
artists, including William
Koseluk and Leszek Możdżer.
The “O” has been moved to the
Park Ballroom at 1232 Park
Street, where the Paderewski
Festival will soon utilize this
historic location for upcoming
performances.
To learn more about the Paso Robles
Paderewski Festival visit www.
paderwskifest.com, e-mail tickets
@paderewskifest.com or call 769-
4622.
46 East Storage 60
911 Supply House 22
Advanced Concrete 57
Advanced Construction 27
Alliance Board Co. 14
Artworks 30
Baker, Faye 50
Baker, Richard 43
Bankston, Kim 16
Barto, JR Heating 50
Beckett, Lauren 25
Berry Hill Bistro 16
BlakesTrueValue 47
Blakeslee & Blakeslee 55
Blenders 19
Body Basics 50
Borjon Auto Center 19
Bresk, Helena 59
Bridge Sportsmen 46
Cal Paso Solar 15
Cambria Nursery 36
Cantinas Festival 31
CASA 54
Casey Print 57
Casper, EJ, DDS 41
Castoro Cellars 51
Chalekson, Dr. Charles 45
Cider Creek 20
City Concerts in Park 55
City-Recreation 2
Class Act 23
Connect Home Loans 58
Country Florist 8
Country Oaks Glass 57
Dawg on It 28
Daylight Gardens 17
Delightful Desserts 41
Dispute Resolutions 38
Dutch Maytag 41
Eddington Funeral Svs 40
El Paso de Robles Hist. 32
El Paso Storage 46
Elan Vital 18
Escuela del Rio 19
Estrella Warbirds 25
EstrellaWar-AirShow 9
DIRECTORY TO OUR ADVERTISERS
Forsythe, Kevin, MD 42
Frontier Floors 21
Gallagher Video 35
General Store PR 18
Gettmann, Mary Ann 51
Gilliss, Keith/PRIME 47
Golden Collar 27
Golden State Car Club 33
GRL Computing 33
Hamon Overhead Door 59
Hairitage-Amber 36
Healthy Skin by Karen 17
Heart to Heart RE 23
HFG Financial 27
Home Elegance 25
Idler’s 5
Jaffa Cafe 8
Kiler Ridge Olive Farm 55
Lake Nacimiento Realty 34
Lansford Dental 51
Lear, Kelly Mary Kay 38
Live Oak Church 29
Lube N Go 61
Main St Animal Hospital 45
Michael’s Optical 15
Mikulics 28
Mod Studio 58
Natural Alternative 21
Natural Health Sol 30
NCDPAF 23
New Day Church 35
NoCo Home & Garden Expo 56
Nose to Tail 47
Oaks Hotel 53
Odyssey Cafe 20
PAN Jewelers 7, 64
Papich Construction 46
Park Cinemas 42
Paso Massage Therapy 49
Paso PetCare 35
PR Chamber 49
PR Chevrolet 33
PR District Cemetery 59
PR Door & Trim 29
PR Furniture 25
PR Glass 15
PR Handyman 57
PR Insurance 59
PR Inn 43
PR Main Street 39
PR Pet Boarding 32
PR Safe & Lock 21
PR Sports Club 39
Photo Stop 14
Pioneer Day Committee 49
Professional Design 33
Pro Handyman 40
Pure Elements 34
Railsback Insurance 59
Reed’s Heating 36
Revive Massage 51
Robert’s 19
Ross, SharonCC Mort 54
Salon Gloss-Melissa 30
SAVOR Central Coast 61
Scoles,PatsyLaw Office 57
Solaralos 39
Solarponics 48
Sotheby’s-Desmond 3
Sousa and Company 25
Spice of Life 29
Sprain Draperies 57
Stifel Nicolaus 29
Stove & Spa Center 27
Straight For/Word 23
Takken’s 23
Ted Hamm Ins 48
Templeton Chamber 44
The Auto Bahn 44
The Mobile Oil Chgs 57
The Wellness Kitchen 29
Tree of Life 20
Treeman 4
Tubb, J.K.Landscaping 49
Vic’s Cafe 54
Western Janitorial 36
Whitehorse 48
Worship Directory 62
York, Cheri 11
August 2013, Paso Robles Magazine 63