Postcards from New York City

Taking a Bite Out of the Big Apple at the Holidays

Season’s Greetings from A Kopp Music as we adventure to and explore our way around NYC!

The last time Andy was out this way was when he was touring with the band Fade 2 Shade, while this is my very first time visiting The Big Apple. With so much to do and see here, I’m going to try to write to you all every day!

Our first stop on day one was a trip to Steinway Hall in Midtown, Manhattan. This is the flagship showroom for Steinway pianos that are manufactured across the East River in Astoria.

For those who are not familiar, Steinway pianos are the gold standard of professional concert pianos. (Kind of like the Stradivarius is to violins and the Selmer Supreme is to saxophones.)

The showroom off of Avenue of the Americas (6th) was a remarkable experience. These are pianos that range in price and are comparable to the cost of a modern house in the suburbs of just about anywhere in the USA.

As a technician, Andy would most likely work on these kinds of pianos in performance settings, having seen relatively few in people’s homes over the past few years.

In addition to checking out the pianos that Steinway offers, Andy enjoyed the opportunity to play a 6’11” Steinway Grand in a special music showroom.

This site also had a lower level of pianos, but those were largely reserved for customers in the process of purchasing a Steinway piano of their very own, so we didn’t explore that area. Also, the building was home to the American Teaching Studio of Chinese Tradition Music from Central Conservatory of Music. This visit was mostly a face-to-face introduction to the Steinway company for Andy. They offer three seminars for piano technicians to advance their skills to match Steinway’s gold standard, something that’s definitely in his future one day. Next time he returns will be to the factory for one of those weeks-long courses.

Of course, it just wouldn’t be a trip to NYC if we didn’t take in a show or two!

As you know from past blog posts about Woodwind Doubling and playing in the Pit Orchestra for theatrical musicals, as musicians we absolutely adore the theater!

Back in April we took in two musicals in London, Starlight Express by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds the Musical. On this trip, we moseyed down memory lane and attended Chess the Musical on Broadway, a production we were part of in 1992 at Robbinsdale Cooper High School when we were 16 years old. This musical was created by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of the singing group ABBA, with lyrics by Tim Rice. It’s a musical that’s having a revival right now after only achieving a kind of cult status back in the late 80s/early 90s.

For this production, the story was reworked by Danny Strong (of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Gilmore Girls fame). We felt it was a notable improvement to the story as well as to the characters.

After the last curtain call, we rushed the stage to talk to our heroes … the woodwind section.

Chess’s pit had four woodwind doublers, all playing on two instruments each. They giggled when we told them that we came from the “Mini Apple” in Minnesota specifically to talk to them.

Their set up was stunning! The pit was arranged with a single file in an arc going up and down steps across the backdrop of the stage. At the center there was one of three keyboardists who was also the conductor. This kind of set up would be quite tricky to do without the technical bells and whistles that a Broadway production can afford with all of their mics, monitors, and a savvy sound engineer who could mix everything down. It really was amazing!

Just a quick note after a highly enjoyable (albeit exhausting) day today!

One of the flavors of the city that we find absolutely delicious is the sound of buskers (aka, street performers) entertaining folks throughout Central Park. Our favorites were the trombonist who played the Love Theme from The Godfather for Andy when he dropped a few bucks in his case along with the lovely voice of a woman singing opera in a tunnel as we made our way to the Boat House.

We also had a lot of fun exploring the lower east side of the park, visiting the Central Park Zoo where Andy and my brother Manny made friends with some very sociable birds.

We’ve got an exciting evening planned tomorrow night, so I’ll sign off now and get some rest.

Our last show was the world famous Rockettes Holiday Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall! Not only was this performance a bucket list item for us, what made it extra special was that this year, it was the 100th-year anniversary of the Rockettes organization.

The show began with a 5-minute video highlighting their century of sisterhood. (We recommend you visit YouTube to find a number of short videos about the Rockettes and their home at Radio City Music Hall.)

The building itself is quite an impressive venue, being the largest indoor theater in the world! The stage is as wide as a New York City Block! (And if you’ve ever walked around NYC, you know that is BIG!) The building is also remarkably old and just shy of 100 years itself.

Its technological features must have caused quite the commotion when first unveiled in 1932. Remarkably, the technology involved in raising/lowering the curtain and the movements of the stage floor are still used today! (Read about the Hall’s history. It’s fascinating!)

Of course, I mention the Hall’s technology because of their Orchestra Pit. Their Holiday Spectacular boasts a symphony orchestra of 36 members which includes a full-size concert harp, a complement of timpani drums, and drum set.

The platform where they reside rises from below the stage to above the stage and can push back across the stage and disappear back down below at the back … and that’s just one of the things that stage can do!

The most impressive thing was seeing the orchestra rise and disappear while they performed, not missing a single note or beat. In addition to the amazing orchestra there were a couple of boxes on the far sides of the stage with curtains that opened to reveal two very skilled organists each playing a Wurlitzer organ. They put on a bit of a pre-show and got a lot of cheers at the end of their set before stepping back and being closed in again behind the curtains.

A wise person once said, “Travel broadens the mind; returning home reminds you where your socks are.” At least I think someone did.

Anyway, the holidays in New York were magical with the sounds of music around every corner. Yet, as much as we loved it, we were happy to return to our warm and cozy home, our studio, and our students, eager to prepare for the holidays at A Kopp Music.

We kicked off the season the first weekend in December with our annual Holiday Recitals. On Saturday, December 6^th, more than 225 people popped into A Kopp Music for one of six Holiday Music recitals that day.

The students all performed amazingly, and we enjoyed one another’s company along with a reception of donuts, holiday breads, coffee, tea, hot cider, and hot cocoa.

It’s hard to believe how quickly December passes. In fact, I’m writing this after concluding our final lesson for 2025.

Every holiday season, we make an ornament for our students to give to them before winter break. This year’s ornament was quite special as it contained a small bit of personal treasure from my family — a button from the Button Jar. If you know, you know.

Happy Holidays to all! And we will see you again in 2026!