THE Ilkley Concert Club will be boosted this coming season by the handing over of a brand new £66,000 Steinway and Sons grand piano to replace one which fell off the back of a lorry last year.

Concert Club organiser David Pyett said: "Bearing in mind that Steinway in Europe only produces around 200 concert grand pianos a year for a global market this is wonderful news for music-lovers in the area."

Obtaining a new piano this year is not the only hurdle which had to be overcome to make sure the concert series went smoothly.

Bradford Council is replacing the Winter Garden roof in Station Road with a £250,000 glass atrium roof.

As this is a grade 2 listed building the new structure will need to be an almost exact replacement. Bradford Council has confirmed that the work will commence in the third week of October, so the first concert on October 10 in Ilkley Concert Club's new season will not be affected.

Mr Pyett said: "This concert will be a very special occasion as the piano used last season was dropped by removers from their van into Station Road.

"The club and the council have collaborated to ensure that a brand-new piano will be arriving from Steinway & Sons, and it will be kept permanently in the Ilkley complex. A piano of this pedigree has to be especially chosen for its individual qualities and this usually takes place in the European factory in Hamburg.

"However the club have been particularly fortunate that a very fine instrument arrived in London from Hamburg, and the international pianist Paul Lewis, who is to give the first concert in October, was able to try it, and make an assessment."

In his assessment Mr Lewis says: "The piano is one of the best model C's I've seen perfect, I think!"

Mr Pyett said that the club would like to reassure everyone that whilst the work on the Winter Garden roof would mean that that part of the complex was not available during the concert intervals, all the concerts would take place, the international artists were all contracted to appear, and the King's Hall was available."

In October Paul Lewis will be performing the last three Beethoven Sonatas. This is followed in November by Russian virtuoso pianist, Nikolai Demidenko and colleagues in the Hermitage Trio.

In the New Year the Club will welcome the oboist, George Caird and the Dante Quartet On February 13 Roger Vignoles will accompany the tenor, Mark Padmore, in performances of Britten's Winter Words' and Schubert's Schwanengesang'. Following on are the Atrium Quartet which was formed in St. Petersburg.

Min-Jin-Kym gave her international debut with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra at the age of 13 and since then has performed with leading orchestras around the world. She will be accompanied by Ian Brown whose career embraces solo playing, chamber music and conducting. Together they will perform Mozart, Beethoven, Prokofiev and Brahms in April.

A brochure with full details of all the artists and music is available from Ilkley Tourist Information Centre, Local Libraries, Waitrose and Booths Supermarkets, and at this time there are seats available for booking.