Free Piano Concert in Cornwall

On Sunday, June 25, at 2 p.m., the Italian-born virtuoso Sandro Russo will play a free concert on the new Steinway piano at the First Congregational Church of Cornwall. The program will feature works by Chopin and Liszt.

A certified Steinway Artist who has performed all over the world, recorded multiple CDs, and in 2010 played solo works by Chopin and Schumann at a sold-out Carnegie Hall, Russo has a particular feel for the piano’s most famous brand.

Last December the church council voted to purchase the instrument, originally built in 1942, from The Piano Gallery of North Ferrisburgh, whose proprietors, Justin and Emily Rose, have painstakingly brought it back to concert condition. The reconditioned piano isn’t a concert grand, but a moderately sized “A3,” well-suited to its new space.

The Cornwall Church, in the village center by the intersection of Routes 30 and 74, has become a destination for music lovers of all kinds. In addition to hosting masters of the classical canon like Russo, the sanctuary is the indoor home of the West Cornwall Backyard Concert Series, which highlights local musicians playing folk, rock, blues, and American roots music.