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United Arts has recently received a gift of $50,000 from two Greenville, North Carolina, physicians. The gift by Drs. Jonathan R. Workman and Vanessa Albernaz was given in memory of his father, Robert E. Workman. The gift was made in conjunction with their purchase from Ruggero Piano of a special Bšsendorfer piano, manufactured in honor of the 250th birthday of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
The gift makes Drs. Workman and Albernaz the newest Gold Partners of United Arts. Among other recognition, United Arts will place an artist in residence in the location of their choice.
The special edition piano was made available to the Triangle, NC market through Ruggero Piano and was on display at Johnson Lexus of Durham. Ruggero Piano offered the instrument for sale with the agreement that part of the total sales price would be contributed to the United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County.
The purchased instrument is # 19 in the limited edition series of only 27 manufactured worldwide--one for each of Mozart's piano concertos. Bösendorfer, the world's premier piano builder, has been building pianos since 1828 in Vienna, Austria.
Ruggero Piano is a third generation family-owned business established in 1958. Richard Ruggero and his son, John, both Registered Piano Technicians, offer North Carolina's highest quality collection of pianos. In addition to Bösendorfer, they also represent Fazioli, Mason & Hamlin, Shimmel, Charles Walter and Estonia. Complete restoration of heirloom quality pianos is offered in their rebuilding facility. Many recitals, concerts and fundraising events are held each year in Ruggero Piano's Bösendorfer Hall. For their strong support of several groups funded by United Arts, Ruggero Piano was awarded the 2006 Small Business Support of the Arts Award.