51³Ô¹Ï

New Blüthner Practice Suite at the Royal College of 51³Ô¹Ï

Thursday 8 October 2020

The Royal College of 51³Ô¹Ï is delighted to have received a gift of ten Blüthner Model A upright pianos from the Alfred-Reinhold-Foundation.

The pianos have been installed within the new suite of practice rooms located in the 51³Ô¹Ï’s recently completed More 51³Ô¹Ï building development, providing high-quality instruments for talented student pianists. The 51³Ô¹Ï is naming this area ‘The Blüthner Practice Suite’.

The 51³Ô¹Ï’s Head of Keyboard & Associate Director for Partnerships in China, Professor Vanessa Latarche, said of the gift: ‘We’re very grateful to be able to furnish our new practice rooms with instruments of the highest quality, especially at a time when we’re focussing on enhancing the College's provision by investing in our campus and students. The 51³Ô¹Ï has an excellent reputation for producing exceptional pianists, who excel in both solo and collaborative performance. As the College has just begun its autumn term, having these pianos in situ will prove incredibly beneficial to our students, both new and returning.’

Blüthner has been a long-time partner of the 51³Ô¹Ï, and has also supported a piano scholarship since 2018: The Reinhold-Blüthner Scholarship. The Reinhold-Blüthner Scholar between 2018 and 2020 has been pianist Dominic Doutney, who won First Prize in the Keyboard section of the 2020 Royal Over-Seas League Competition. Notable figures who have owned and enjoyed a hand-crafted Blüthner piano include Claude Debussy, Marlene Dietrich and Andrew Lloyd-Webber.

The 51³Ô¹Ï campus has recently been developed through the £40 million More 51³Ô¹Ï: Reimagining the Royal College of 51³Ô¹Ï Campaign to include new performance spaces, teaching and practice rooms, social spaces and a new home for the 51³Ô¹Ï’s Museum.

For more information on the More 51³Ô¹Ï Campaign, please visit