MusiClub Newsletter

YOU’RE INVITED To the Best Musical

Events this Autumn

Bernies Music Land is proud to

offer a sensational lineup of

artists and events to inspire

your music making!

February

With a theme of My Favourite

Music, Players Afternoon on

February 20th is sure to give

you plenty of playing tips and

ideas to start your musical

year. Come to play or just to

listen!

March

Come and be a part of the

audience of entertaining

television show, Piano Talk,

recorded live at Bernies on

Tuesday 25th March, April 29th

and May 27th.

Discover the breadth and

variety of Bach’s piano works

with Bach Society Live at

Bernies on March 27th

featuring special guest pianist

and scholar, Ann-Helena

Schlüter. A “Schimmel Artist

Collection” recording evening.

April

Brush up for Players Afternoon

on April 9th. Come to play or

just to listen. Theme TBA.

Book Now: 9872 5122 www.musicland.com.au

�������� Bernstein Masterclass 2014

Sessions 10am & 12pm;

Wednesday 2nd July

Wednesday 9th July

Saturday 26th July

Saturday 23rd August

Saturday 6th September

Enquiries: Lester 9872 5122

Here at Bernies we are preparing for a fabulous

2014 lineup of instruments and events. In this

edition you can read about the new Suzuki HP-1,

new Johannus organs, new Hammond keyboard,

new Roland instruments, awards for Bernstein

pianos, Schimmel new editions and much more.

MusiClub 2014 vouchers are now available so

please visit the store or phone 9872 5122 to make

sure your membership is up to date.

Special thanks to the contributors for this edition;

Robert Barbarossa, Craig Douglass and to our

fabulous editor, Michelle. It’s great to have her

back a couple of mornings a week to keep us in

line!

Look forward to welcoming you at the store soon.

Happy music making! Bernie C.

Don’t Miss: � Live at Bernies with Peter Sullivan

7.30pm Thursday 25th February

Kick start your musical year with a fun-filled

evening with this iconic

entertainer, performing

classics to moderns and

piano bar favourites

the Schimmel Konzert

grand piano.

Entry $10 / 2014 voucher

Phone: 9872 5122

This issue Welcome, You’re Invited P.1

What’s Happening at Bernies P.2

New from our Favourite Brands P.3

Travel Tips, NAMM Show P.4

AUTUMN 2014

381 Canterbury Road, Ringwood, Victoria, 3134 P:03 9872 5122 F:03 9872 5127 E:info@musicland.com.au

Around Town Events Sponsored by

Bernies Music Land

Hammond Concert with Robert

Barbarossa

1.30pm Friday 28th February

Dontown Music Club

Enquiries: Pam 9459 7712

Liddiard Gallery Piano Concerts

Improvisation, Konrad Dorecki

8pm 28th Feb & 2pm 1st March

Oakleigh Anglican Church

Phone: 9569 9178

Liddiard Gallery Piano Concerts

Pianist Stefan Cassomenos

8pm 1st March & 2pm 2nd March

Oakleigh Anglican Church

Phone: 9569 9178

Liddiard Gallery Piano Concerts

Pianist David Soo

8.00pm Sunday 2nd March

Oakleigh Anglican Church

Phone: 9569 9178

St. Johns Recital Series

2.30pm Sunday 2nd March

St. Johns Church, Cranbourne

Phone: 5995 9364

The Team of Pianists’ Classic

Music in Historic Venues

2.00pm Sunday 23rd March

BArwon Park, Winchelsea

www.teamofpianists.com.au

Maroondah Symphony Concert

2.30pm Sunday 23rd March

George Wood PAC, Ringwood

Phone: Elaine 9720 8575

Maroondah Symphony Concert

2.30pm Sunday 30th March

Cowes Cultural Centre, Cowes

Phone: Elaine 9720 8575

The Team of Pianists’ Trilogy –

A Lineage of Musicians

1.00pm Saturday 5th April

Beleura Estate, Mornington

www.teamofpianists.com.au

The Team of Pianists’ Two Trios

and Stunning Solos

6.30pm Sunday 27th April

Rippon Lea Estate, Elsternwick

www.teamofpianists.com.au

Travel Tips Hands up those who can easily sleep on Airplanes? What do you mean, “no way”? Well there has to be a way because it is essential to sleep on long trips. The alternative is to arrive dehydrated, with low resistance, out of time sync and extremely tired. Your body shuts down for ‘recovery’ mode, or you get sick with the flu, gastro, aches, pains and whatever else a new location can serve you. I have examples where it has taken up to a week in bed to recover. The flight I am on tonight is fourteen and a half hours long and I need to get about 10 hours sleep. Tip: I have found the secret is to have some shut eye as soon as you board and get into your seat. Belt up, put on a light jumper (the air conditioning can be freezing, the chap to my right just sneezed!) and close your eyes. You cannot do anything else during take-off, so you may as well have a cat nap. Often I will be asleep before the plane takes off. It takes between 30 to 50 minutes before the seat belt sign switches off or the movies come on (if they do work, which is not tonight!) and up to two hours before food is served. A quick sleep of up to an hour is useful.

After your cat nap, maybe watch one movie. On most flights I avoid the little screen as it quickly consumes sleep time! After eating, prepare for bed like you do at home with wash, teeth clean etc. The key is to be comfortable and warm, so rug up with blanket, eye patches, ear plugs, extra socks or leave your shoes on with laces loose, blow up a neck rest (if you are flying economy). Tip: the important thing for comfort and health is to keep your body straight. Unless you are in business class, avoid the first row or bulkhead row. It is better to stretch your feet under a seat in front of you rather than have them pushed up against a wall in front of you. Keep straight and fold your arms or clasp your hands in front. If your feet don’t reach the ground, like the lovely ladies in my family, use your on-board bag as a footrest. Tip: avoid caffeine; tea, coffee even some herbal teas like peppermint. They stimulate the mind and out goes the important sleep. Alcohol can help in small doses but under cabin pressure your water works can interfere with sleep time too! My dinner is here so more tips next time. Happy travelling! Bernie C.

Kick Start Your Musical Year at Bernies!

National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Conference, Los Angeles

Dear MusiClubbers,

Welcome to MusiClub Autumn 2014!

I hope you and your family are safe and well after the

recent heat waves and fires.

The festive season takes on a new light with

grandchildren. To watch the delight on their faces is

truly special. I am lucky that both Benjamin and Ella

delight in music. Music is a great gift that we can

share, and it’s wonderful to be able to sit at the piano

or organ with my grandkids as they bop, clap and

mumble along to the tunes. Don’t forget how much

babies learn when you play to them, especially in

different keys and musical styles. Keep your playing

simple and don’t forget to smile back at them when

they look up at you!

Special thanks to all our customers who helped to

make the holiday and festive season encouraging for

our business.

January has been a frantic time at the store. Piano

Educators Day was a fantastic success (pictured

above) and our Back to School has kept us busy. We

have made a great deal of effort to offer you an

extensive range of music books for the start of the

year, and many sensational packages on keyboards

and pianos to encourage music making. Drop in to the

store or phone us to chat about the exciting range.

We are proud to support the Team of Pianists’ again

for this year. Their 2014 program includes a superb

lineup of concerts and events. Please see the

brochure enclosed with this newsletter, or visit

www.teamofpianists.com.au for details.

I’ve been ‘officially’ part of the Bernies team for almost a year

now and was super excited at the opportunity to attend NAMM

in January this year. With Bernie’s strict travel instructions, the

plane trip was good and I arrived ready to go!

What was amazing about NAMM was the noise level! It really

conveyed the excitement of the music industry, with incredible

musicians everywhere you turned. The show was filled with

such activity and excitement, superb displays, and incredible

guest artists at each display. Schimmel featured spectacular

pianist, Brandon Masalis, Hailun presented Grammy Nominated

jazz pianist Manuel Valeris and Hammond had a huge list of

artists. I was blown away.

Hammond celebrated their 80th birthday and this was a huge

celebration, with Keith Emerson presenting an award to

Hammond. We felt very honoured to be invited. Hammond also

had a visit from Stevie Wonder. He was playing the XK-173 and

XK-1c and the stand was swarmed with about 1000 spectators. I

was star struck and it was really amazing to hear him play.

At the show, Bernie was selected as one of the key people of

the music industry and was interviewed by NAMM. This

collection will create a history for NAMM.

The NAMM Breakfast of Champions was a highlight of the

show, with impact with guest speakers who spoke about adding

value to the music industry and supporting our future.

NAMM wouldn’t be complete without a spectacular visit to

Disneyland, where I was transported to a whole new world!

It was wonderful to share this opportunity with Bernie, especially

to meet our international team and experience the fellowship of

our industry. A huge thank you to Bernie and Musico for this

incredible experience. Robert Barbarossa.

Recent Happenings

Johannus News

European Dealer Meeting

I was invited by the Vice President of Johannus to attend the European Dealer Convention at the factory in Ede, Holland, in September last year. It was an exciting time. I flew on the Airbus A380 and was duly impressed. Although the plane was travelling at Mach 0.954, it was certainly not obvious in the cabin.

The dealer convention started with a bang, quite literally, as Johannus revealed a concept prototype of a new model and then asked the dealers to critically examine the prototype and give our feedback. This is all I can reveal at this stage, but it will be worth the wait.

But it was all not good wine and dancing girls. These events are quite intense and most of my week was taken up in group and individual tuition sessions. Johannus introduced two new technology platforms for 2014, orangeCore and T9000. Both have taken sound sophistication to dizzying new heights in both accuracy and clarity. The key feature in both is the new digitally equalised audio (DEA) system which, in a nutshell, allows a further level of refinement by boosting or moderating specific frequency responses. This means that frequencies that may for instance cause all the windows to rattle can be modified in the equalisation stage, rather than having to change the timbre or volume of a specific note on any number of stops. So in the end, this allows the voicer to retain the harmonic and structural integrity of the individual stops and respective choruses.

As such a sojourn is quite an investment for Bernie, I made sure I was competent in all the new technology and spent quite a good deal of extra time with Willem Verschoor, head of technology, Bertus Lap, head of sampling and Jelmer Slotegraaf, head technical engineer.

Holland is one of my favourite international destinations. As a closing function, we were all bussed into Utrecht for a ‘surprise’. We started with a private tour of a beautiful 16th century church converted into what can only be described as an organ museum. There were so many working displays and the highlight was a 200y.o. barrel organ complete with puppet show.

To find out more, please phone me on (03) 9872 5122. Craig D.

2014 Educational Events for Music Professionals

Get the Right Books

9.30am – 11.00am Saturday 15th March

Discover how to understand editions, find

elusive pieces and select appropriate repertoire

with print music specialist, Hans Sukau.

Preparing for Examinat ions

9.30am – 12.30pm Wednesday 26th March

Begin your teaching year with the right

strategies for piano examination preparation with

renowned educator, Robert Chamberlain.

Summer Schools 2014 kicked off with the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) Summer School at Trinity College, Parkville. Seventy five enthusiastic church musicians gathered from Australia and New Zealand from 3-10 January where local and international tutors (including myself) put everyone through their paces. The magnificent 3-manual Johannus Ecclesia T370 featured in the main space, with the Ecclesia T150, Studio 170 and Hammond A405SP Chapel Organ providing fine quality organ sounds for tutorial and practice rooms. I took an extensive organ print music display and this was a popular addition. It was great to meet so many like-minded church musicians and organists!

After a quick trip to Perth, I was off to Geelong for the Suzuki Summer School at St. Davids Uniting Church complex in Newtown. The summer school was incorporated into the inaugural Geelong Keyboard Festival and yet again I was amazed at the development of the young organists, many of whom I have known for many years.

Bernies Music Land played an integral sponsorship role by providing four Johannus organs and a Schimmel K230 grand piano for performance and tuition. The closing Gala Concert showcased a magnificent range of talents and we set up six Hammond SK keyboards and four Johannus organs allowing all the organ students to perform at once. There were up to three students on the 3 manual organs! Craig D.

Suzuki HP-1 Budget Digital Piano Start your music lessons on a great digital piano that

costs just $895; the Suzuki HP-1. Featuring a sleek,

compact timber-look cabinet with roll-top lid and

matching padded seat, this instrument has a quality

piano sound and responsive touch to develop your

skills. A handy range of 15 built-in sounds and 2-track

recorder are useful for students and hobby players.

The Suzuki HP-1 is a fabulous introductory digital

piano and is now available at Bernies Music Land.

Johannus Organs – New Colours In my discussions with clients, I sometimes encounter

requests for different finishes. In response to this,

Johannus have now released a selection of

contemporary finishes for their production model

organs. In addition to the traditional light and ‘Old

Dutch’ oak, we are now able to offer special orders in

natural finish, walnut, lime-wash, clay finish and semi-

gloss black on oak.

When I was in the custom organ department at the Johannus factory, I saw organs in gloss while and even trimmed with checker-plate steel. Sensational!

For details or a brochure please phone Craig Douglass on (03) 9872 5122.

New Roland Digital Pianos Roland announces the new generation of digital

pianos, featuring a new touch system for

unsurpassed playing comfort and control.

Each of the new HP-504, HP-506 and HP-508

models feature the famous SuperNatural® sound

engine with newly upgraded electric piano

samples. The HP range is acclaimed for its

expressive performance, allowing the pianist to

play with dynamic change and variation in sound.

Roland’s Piano Designer feature allows discerning

pianists to customize the sound and their playing

experience to suit their environment or playing

preferences.

Record and playback is a useful feature of these

models, so you can instantly re-live your

performance. Roland has also developed their 3D

Sound Space technology to give you an enriched

experience when playing with headphones.

The real show card of the new Roland models is

the PHA-4 Premium Keyboard, with advanced

escapement and superb ivory-feel keys. This

gives the player a more authentic piano feel and

improved responsiveness for a more comfortable

accurate performance.

For world-class stage performance, Roland

introduces the new RD-800 to its famous RD

series. With concert-standard keyboard and over

1100 premium sounds, this is an impressive stage

partner. Come and experience it today at Bernies!

All new Roland models come with the free Piano

Partner App, which includes music games and

exciting additional features.

These new models are now on display at Bernies

and start from just $2999 so visit the store today!

Bernstein Hailun Piano International Awards The 20th Annual Dealers Choice Awards by

Musical Merchandise Review Magazine

(USA) was a big deal.

Now here’s a surprise. For many years it

appeared that Kawai’s K-3 had an invariable

lock in this category but in 2012 Bernstein

Hailun won Acoustic Piano Line of the Year

in convincing fashion.

The Bernstein Hailun BH5P was praised for

meticulous craftsmanship and classic

designs.

In 2013 Bernstein Hailun made a clean

sweep with Grand Piano Line of the Year.

Coinciding with the international dealer visit

to the Hailun factory, the news caused great

celebration for Hailun and the worldwide

team, including our very own Bernie and

group of Aussie dealers who attended the

factory tour visit.

In the USA, Hailun pianos continue to

surprise customers with inspiring sound and

the best value in the market. Bernies Music

Land is proud to offer the full range of

Bernstein Hailun pianos and invites you to

try them today! Michelle C.

Bernie with Mr. Hailun Chen and Basilio

from Hailun USA celebrating Hailun awards

Delights

at the Karralyka Centre Bernies Music Land is thrilled to

congratulate the Karralyka Centre in

Ringwood East on the installation of their

magnificent Schimmel K-189 Konzert series

grand piano.

The piano was delivered in October 2013

and featured at the 2014 season release

event, where it was showcased at the

beginning and conclusion of the evening.

The Karralyka Centre is delighted with their

new piano, which serves their 450-seat

theatre perfectly. It will be featured regularly

in Karralyka’s programs, which include

fabulous morning music events and exciting

guest artists. For more information, please

visit www.karralyka.com.au

Piano Educators Day For the fifth year in a row, Bernies Music Land

was proud to present Piano Educators Day on

January 20 and 21.

Piano Educators Day was a feast of information

for piano teachers. It was wonderful to see

teachers’ faces as the day progressed, and watch

the excitement as they gather ideas, solutions to

their problems, and a few great free gifts along

the way!

It was a ‘first time at Bernies’ for jazz specialist,

Steve Sedergreen, who gave a fabulous session

on teaching jazz through playing, reflection and

extension. His popular method book is now

available at Bernies.

Robert Chamberlain of the Team of Pianists

stimulated the teachers to try something new with

his presentation ‘Composition and Piano Studies

for School Age Students’.

The ever-popular author, Samantha Coates, was

back to share her amazing tips on aligning your

teaching with todays technology and, of course,

plenty of ideas from her Blitz Books.

The feedback from Piano Educators Day was

sensational and we are very proud to have

presented this activity for piano teachers.

Bernies Music Land is very grateful for the

support of Music Sales, Music Knowledge,

Encore Music Distributors, Hal Leonard, Accent

Publishing, ANZCA and the AMEB in making

Piano Educators Day 2013 such a success.

Michelle C.

New from Our Favourite Brands

Baroque and Classical Styles

9.30am – 12.30pm Tuesday 8th April

Explore the fundamentals and teaching tips for

these two integral piano styles, presented by

renowned educator, Darryl Coote.

Techniques for Beauty of Sound,

Using the Pedal for Effect iveness

9.30am – 12.30pm Tuesday 8th July

Two sensational topics with Professor Max Cooke.

Seminar Tickets $29. BOOK NOW: P h o n e 9872 5122 or www.musicland.com.au

.

Piano Educators Day at Bernies: (clockwise)

Michelle with Matt from Music Sales, Maureen

and June from ANZCA, Sam Coates, Bernard

from AMEB, happy audience.