Fundraiser to celebrate piano's 115th year in use

Pequot Library will host a "Salute to the Tradition of Music" fundraiser to celebrate its Steinway Model D concert grand piano's 115th year in use on Saturday, April 13. It will be held from 8 to 10 p.m. at the library, 720 Pequot Ave.

Alex Beyer, pianist, will play the piano, completed in July 1898 and sent to the library in October 1899, at 8 p.m., followed by a champagne and dessert reception at 9 p.m.

Beyer, a 2012 graduate of Fairfield Warde High School who recently debuted with the Greater Bridgeport Symphony, has been a guest soloist with the New Haven, Hartford, Milwaukee, Charlotte, Thayer and Waterbury Symphony Orchestras, according to a news release. He is a 2012 U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts and was the recipient of the Stamford Symphony Jeniam Foundation Instrumental Scholarship Award for 2012.

He has also won the Renee Fischer Competition and MTNA (Music Teacher's National Association) state and regional competitions and was a 2011 MTNA finalist in the senior piano division. He was also a finalist in the 2010 Milwaukee PianoArts competition.

Proceeds from the event will go to the library.

Tickets, priced at $500, $115 and $75 will include dinner at a private home before the concert if bought by Sunday, March 31, or while supplies last. Tickets without dinner can be bought for $30.

Contact Elizabeth Patterson at 203-259-0346, ext. 12, or patterson@pequotlibrary.org.