The Piano By Nature Story
by Rose Chancler, Artistic Director
I came here from Iowa City in the summer of 2003- to get married and start a new life- and was immediately thrown into the deep end by working at Meadowmount, planning a wedding in Rochester, and simultaneously prepping for a full-time piano job at SUNY Plattsburgh in the Fall. It was kind of a lot. After the summer was over I was shocked at how everything in this area seemed to change suddenly, and that so many people up and left. I had never experienced such an exodus. I admit I felt a bit abandoned, and there was so much less of everything I had been enjoying- including live music.
At the same time I was very fortunate to land an invitation to attend a monthly ‘Musicale’ run by a wonderful group of musicians who immediately made me feel like I was a part of something special. Through this group I got to know the amazingly talented area luminaries like Atea Ring, Russell Ames, Mary Lou Kirsty, Janice Kyle, Jeris French, and so many others. The importance of this group was not lost on me. I had worked in Fairbanks, AK where the University and the community functioned almost as one big group that was a lot like family; the Musicale was clearly so important in keeping music alive during the long North Country winters. The members used it for performing, trying out new works, and perhaps most important of all- socializing (with music at the forefront). It was filled with so many wonderful people, and I felt embraced immediately. I also got to know a pretty wide range of musicians and listeners through this group, many of whom I still work with regularly. I have often thought about how long it would have taken me to get to know these people on my own…… and fear I might never have met many of them.
After experiencing a couple more summer exodus years, I still felt myself upset. How come so much great music comes in the summer and then leaves us to our own devices for the majority of the year? It seemed to me that we should be bringing in more music because it was more difficult for us to get out to see it in other places during the winter: many of these places were difficult to get to, just for a night out (driving in the North Country in the winter has been a skillset that has come slowly to me).
I desperately wanted to do something where I felt even more a part of this unique community, something where I could use my talents to provide something special for others. I realized that bringing musicians here was a bit of a no-brainer, as I learned in my previous life that planning a concert is sometimes the ONLY way I could get my friends from farther places to come and visit! So along with my co-founder Carol Linder, Piano by Nature was born somewhere around 2006.
It took us a while to get the 501C3 status, which actually happened in 2008, much due to the efforts of Carol Linder and Nancy Fink and some legal help from Bill James and Bill Finucane. Our logo came from the uber-talented Elaine McGoldrick, who came up with just the right thing rather quickly. The story I tell the most often is how we were generously and anonymously gifted a 1910 Mason and Hamlin grand piano that was to be used as a community instrument. The donors are some of the most community-minded folks I have ever known and we will all be eternally grateful to them. But we had a heck of a time finding a proper space in any town, and particularly one that left the heat on during the winter! It was an odd problem to have, and luckily Jim Kinley, Mary Bell, and the Crary Foundation came into our lives at just the right moment. We are still enjoying concerts at the historic Hand House, where people say they feel like they are stepping back into another time: sometimes our music goes with that idea…and sometimes it doesn’t.
PBN strives to present as much diversity in music as we can, and have so far presented music beginning in the Renaissance all the way to music written almost literally ‘yesterday’. The instruments we have included have been too numerous to list, although one highlight was an ondes martenot and another was a marimba (on several occasions)- all with the piano as the instrument beckoning the others to the stage.
Throughout the 17 years we have been doing this we have been asking our artists to do some type of outreach in our local schools. And so many have- including recent Grammy winner Martha Mooke, who spoke to 400 elementary children in Plattsburgh, and contemporary composer Dennis Bathory-Kitsz and silent film pianist Ben Model who both recently presented programs for the entire Willsboro Central School K-12. Over the past three years, PBN has been offering what we call a Coda Recital to area middle and high schoolers who would like to perform their NYSSMA solos. Our 2023 concert brought over 20 student participants from 6 different area schools. We absolutely love hosting these students and are already looking to have even more next year. None of this could happen without PBN's hard-working and amazing board:
Mimi Lane, President, Carole Harsh, Secretary, Nancy Fink, Treasurer, Rose Chancler, Artistic Director, Jennifer Moore, Outreach Coordinator ,Sally Urban, Susan Gifis, Jeris French, Heather Olson, and David Lartaud, graphics.