grand piano

This Steinway was bequeathed to The Netherlands Musical Instrument Foundation by John Roos, who passed away in 2018. John Roos was a pianist and conductor.

John Roos’s musical career began with his aunt Emmie, to whose home he cycled five kilometers every week for piano lessons. His musical talent soon became apparent, and he became a student at the Rustenburg Conservatory. There, he took piano lessons with Lettie Bentum and Winnifred Ochse, but his greatest inspiration was undoubtedly Hennie Joubert. Joubert opened John’s eyes by making him aware of musical and harmonic structures—just as Chopin did with his students.

After passing his state piano exam, John enrolled in the SNK’s conducting program under Anton de Beer and Ger Hoyjus. At the NOS, he took the international conducting course led by Edward Downes. Commissioned by BBC Television, he served as Music Recording Director for some thirty Charlie Chaplin films. John has conducted, among others, the Volendam Opera Choir, the Edam Men’s Choir, the Volendam Vocal Ensemble, and the Broek in Waterland Mixed Choir. For Meta Sound Studios, he served as Musical Director for productions including *Beauty and the Beast*, *The Lion King*, *Pocahontas*, *Bambi*, and *Peter Pan*.

The grand piano that John left behind has a remarkable musical history. He purchased it from the Meta Sound recording studio after selling his smaller Steinway to a Russian pianist. The grand piano was the centerpiece of numerous house concerts. Many pianists and singers who visited at the time played or sang on this instrument. Some examples include pianist Boy Honig, Ellen van Haaren (Dutch National Opera), singer Wynanda Zeevaarder, pianist and composer Adriaan de Wit (Mozarteum Salzburg), and baritone Johannes Efferz-Wolf (Berlin State Opera).
Vivian Cheng has been playing the instrument from Hamburg ever since it entered the collection of Het Muziekinstrumentenfonds.