As some may know, the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society’s museum building was the NYS pavilion during the Pan-American Exposition. Sitting in the exact same place as it always has in the museum building is the Steinway & Sons grand piano, custom-built 107 years ago for the exposition. Stephen Baker, the BPO’s Associate Executive Director, will bring the grand piano to life at “Music for a Sunday Afternoon” on Sunday, July 6.
Baker comes from California and has had a lifelong career of playing the piano. He won the Young Artist Competition for piano in Los Angeles and went on to receive his bachelor’s degree in piano performance from the Mannes College of Music in NYC, where he studied with Nina Svetlanova. He has performed with Academy Award-winners John Williams and Elmer Bernstein and played as a studio musician at Universal Studios. He has been an administrative leader for more than twenty years and has worked at Carnegie Hall, the Minnesota Orchestra, and the Houston Symphony before joining the BPO.
Now you can hear Baker present his fourth installment of this relaxed program. His themed series runs on selected Sundays through November. The theme on July 6 is “Music of the Pan-American Expo and Rags.” Baker will be playing selections from Victor Herbert and Scott Joplin, tunes written for the Pan-American Exposition, and patriotic favorites like “You’re A Grand Old Flag,” “God Bless America,” and “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
The series has two other dates. October 5 the theme is “The Great Songwriters” and November 2 the theme is “Broadway and Music of the Pan-American Expo.” The cost of hearing Baker’s series is just the regular museum admission price: $6 for adults, $4 for seniors and students ages 13 to 21, and $2.50 for children ages 7 to 12. As an added bonus for this particular theme, in honor of Independence Day weekend, the Historical Society is offering free admission to any US military veteran and a guest.
The program runs from 1:30 PM till 3 PM at the Historical Society’s museum building at 25 Nottingham Court at Elmwood Avenue.