'Atmospheric and personal': UNC class prepares for concert featuring historic piano

​Decorated in rosettes, crafted with fine wood detailing and carrying the memories of generations of pianists, UNC’s historic Pleyel piano will be on display on April 12 for the University's annual 1843 Pleyel piano concert. 

UNC Lecturer in Piano Mimi Solomon teaches Music 286: Music as Culture, which has a specific topic of “Traveling Through Time on the Ivories.” The course is currently focusing on the historic piano collection at UNC — including the 1843 Pleyel. A major project for the course is presenting and coordinating the annual concert. 

UNC senior Anant Malpani said students in the class take on specific roles such as designing social media, taking photographs and creating program notes for the concert.

The concert is centered around the Pleyel piano, which is characterized by its short keyboard, two pedals and wood frame, differing from a modern Steinway piano.

“It's not about making the biggest sound in the world. It's about gesture, and atmosphere, and warmth and how many different kinds of soft playing and melancholy atmospheres can we create,” Solomon said. “So, I think there's a lot that's really different about this instrument.”

UNC seniors Briana Bisconti and Malpani developed a social media presence for the concert. The @uncpleyel Instagram includes teasers of the pianos’ sound and information about the composers, which Bisconti said helps create a personal touch for the audience. 

“In terms of design, I think we were looking for warm colors that remind us of the piano, and also kind of elegant aesthetic and presentation,” Malpani said. 

Bisconti said the intention is for students to be excited about the concert and care about the composers and the Pleyel.

UNC’s Pleyel was originally built in Paris in 1843 and was gifted to the University by Tom Kenan, a donor to academic and artistic programs at the University.

“[The piano has] just had a really cool journey in life,” Solomon said. “It has a very particular sound. It was a favorite instrument of Frédéric Chopin, and some people say that Frédéric Chopin actually played this exact instrument.”

Solomon said Chopin, a Polish composer and pianist, is always incorporated into the program. She said the concert will begin and end with his pieces. 

“When I feel in good form and strong enough to find my own sound, I need a Pleyel piano,” Chopin famously said. 

Solomon said the concert is modeled after a 19th-century salon concert, which combines different kinds of music, instruments and performers. 

“The center of the program is kind of like a journey into the salon of Pauline Viardot,” she said. 

Pauline Viardot was a famous French mezzo-soprano, composer and pianist. Bisconti said the concert pulls from predominantly women composers to pay credit to women that were historically overseen in their field.

Solomon said the concert was not only designed around specific composers, but also incorporates the instrumentals of UNC students. 

“I'm a violinist, so we work a lot with classical music, obviously with pianos. But I've never worked with a historic piano before,” Malpani, who will also be featured in the concert, said.

Music 286 attracts students from varying academic backgrounds. Bisconti is an Exercise and Sport Science major and Studio Art minor. She said she is getting married in 2026 and wanted to take the class to learn more about classical music to add to her vision of an elegant wedding. 

Solomon said the Pleyel is in a “different ball game” than any other instrument.

“You can see how beautiful the case is with the ornamentation, the beautiful green of the wood and then the color of the instrument,” she said. “It's so atmospheric and personal.”

The concert is a CLE event and will be held on April 12 at 1 p.m. in Person Recital Hall. More information can be found on Heel Life and at the @uncpleyel Instagram account.

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