Local business leader and top benefactor to the Longmont Museum’s new 250-seat Stewart Auditorium, Lila Stewart, has announced she will purchase and donate the piano used during the auditorium’s opening event June 14. The piano is a 7-foot-6-inch Shigeru Kawai valued at $75,000; it is handcrafted in Japan and endorsed by concert pianists around the world. Lila Stewart gifted the Shigeru Kawai piano, which was on loan from the Boulder Piano Gallery, in the name of her late daughter Linda Stewart.

“When I saw this gorgeous piano, I knew that it had to be Linda’s because she loved music,” said Lila Stewart. “Now the auditorium and the piano belong to Longmont. Our community cares deeply about the highest quality of musical performance.  I hope that the people of Longmont will continue to support this investment in our great city.”

Other contributions to the piano and the musical program have been made, including a pledge of $5,000 from the Gretchen Beall Community Fund, which is administered by the Longmont Community Foundation.  Those funds will go toward the ongoing care of the piano, as well as performances.

The state-of-the-art Stewart Auditorium is designed to provide a premier performance space for small musical ensembles, films, lectures, theatre and dance. The new building marks the culmination of a successful $4.5 million capital campaign begun in 2012, the first capital campaign in the Museum’s history.

“Lila’s donation of the piano was a total surprise and incredibly generous,” said Longmont Museum Director Wesley Jessup. “A piano of this caliber will help to attract the best performers, bringing first- class music and culture to Northern Colorado. We are very grateful for the continued generosity of the Stewart family in bringing this terrific capstone to our capital campaign.”

The piano will be used for performances with the Boulder Bach Festival, the Longmont Symphony, the Missoula Children’s Theatre and more in the new auditorium, which was acoustically engineered by the Denver office of the internationally renowned firm Shen Milsom & Wilke.

According to David Korevaar, professor of piano at the University of Colorado School of Music, this Shigeru Kawai is one of the best pianos available in northern Colorado. “I had the privilege of visiting the Kawai factory in Hamamatsu, Japan last year and to see the research and development facility where they design and finish the Shigeru pianos,” said Korevaar. “It is a remarkable labor of love by a big company to make sure they are constantly improving the pianos and really listening to them to make them the best instruments possible.” Korevaar recorded two albums using this piano last year.

The Museum’s expansion doubles its public space. In addition to the Stewart Auditorium, the new development adds the Kaiser Permanente Education Center, a combination of new and renovated education and meeting spaces with flexible configurations allowing for three classrooms or one large meeting space seating 115. The expanded facility also includes the Swan Atrium, featuring a two-story glass wall, hardwood finishes,  views of the St. Vrain Valley, and stone elements throughout. The Atrium will be used both as a gathering space prior to events in the auditorium and also as a standalone rental space for receptions and corporate events.

“Bill and I always wanted to leave something that would benefit the community for years to come,” said Lila Stewart of her contributions to the Museum’s capital campaign. “The auditorium will be a vital new space in Longmont where kids and all members of the community can gather and enjoy cultural events.” The Stewart family, including Lila, her late husband Bill, and their daughter Linda, were members of the Longmont business community for nearly four decades.