Robert Rinaldi, Senior Vice President of Jacobs Music Company, personally knows the feeling of a parent visiting The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) with a seriously ill child, and he is thrilled that the campaign his company launched in October of last year has achieved its goal of the donation of a Steinway & Sons Grand piano to fill the hospital with music.
On November 20, 2015 at 10 a.m., Jacobs Music Company presented the new Steinway for dedication ceremonies. Joining the Rinaldi family, the owners of Jacobs Music, were Madeline Bell, president and CEO of CHOP; Patrick Lipawen, Music Therapist at CHOP, along with patients and doctors. The Steinway is placed in the hospital lobby in the Colket Atrium in front of the Seacrest Studio. At the musical ceremony, there was a performance by CHOP Trustee Anne Shoemaker, and Patrick Lipawen performed with Sarah Lucey, 16, a patient who joined him in an improvised duet.
The patients, visitors, doctors and staff will be able to sit down and play. “It is a long proven fact,” Rinaldi explained, “that music heals, and we want the piano to be a source of comfort and escape for anyone who would like to play it.”
To further that longtime dream, Jacobs Music Company sponsored “Children-Helping-Children Performathons” at venues throughout the tri-state region in which hundreds of students raised money that was contributed to the fund to make the dream into a reality of having a Steinway Model B Concert Grand piano in CHOP’s lobby. Jacobs Music Company, the area’s exclusive representative for new and authentically restored Steinway & Sons pianos, has been involved with a variety of Performathons over the years and has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for charities.
The first CHOP Performathon took place at the Kimmel Center for Performing Arts in Philadelphia in October 2014 and subsequent events were held in multiple venues across Southeastern Pennsylvania including Cairn University and Kutztown University, and in New Jersey from Westminster Choir College in Princeton to the north and as far south as the Cape May Convention Center, in which the week-long Performathon culminated with a concert showcase of professional classical and jazz performers.
CHOP president and CEO, Madeline Bell, is thrilled that the patients, staff and visitors at CHOP will have access to this instrument. She said, “We are overwhelmed by this gift from Jacobs Music Company, especially knowing that children helped raise the funds to make this donation possible.” In less than a one-year period, Jacobs coordinated Performathon events throughout the tri-state area where children and adults performed to raise funds to support their performance. Private donations also supported this fundraising program.
Robert Rinaldi continued to explain the emotion behind this gift of music. He said, “The presentation of this piano brings together so much that matters deeply to our family and our company.” Rinaldi’s daughter, Giulianna, now seven years of age, was saved by the medical team at CHOP. She was born with Down Syndrome and severe heart defects. She received several procedures including open heart surgery at CHOP.
“I remember the long walk from the Wood Center garage through the lobby to the surgical center when my wife and I had to hand off our daughter to the surgical team and hope for a positive outcome.” Our hope now is that families taking that same walk and living similar experiences will be uplifted by beautiful, live piano music playing in the lobby performed by patients, their families and the doctors and nurses at Children’s Hospital.”
About The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia:
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 535-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu.
About Jacobs Music Company:
Jacobs Music Company is the area’s exclusive representative for new and authentically restored Steinway & Sons, Steinway’s Boston and Steinway’s Essex pianos. Jacobs also represents many other quality piano manufacturers from around the world. Jacobs Music Company has six showrooms, including its flagship location at 1718 Chestnut Street in center city Philadelphia. Other regional piano showrooms are located in Willow Grove and Whitehall, PA, Lawrenceville and Cherry Hill, NJ and Wilmington, DE. Further information is available on their website www.Jacobsmusic.com or by calling 215-568-7800.
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