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Welcome to... |
www.pianoteam.com |
about as page |
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new_pianos_used_pianos_toronto_mississauga_yamaha_pianos_grand_piano_kawai_gta_upright_digital_piano_new_used_samick |
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| ► New: Violin Lessons Special! | |||
| ► Music Lessons For Adults, 1st lesson is free! | |||
| ► Parking | |||
| ► OUR SALE is NOW ON! | ► Heintzman Grand Piano "D" | ||
| ► Gift Idea for All Occasions: FORTE Gift Certificates | |||
| ► Available 7 days a week | ► GEM Digital Pianos on SALE | ||
| ► Current weather and driving conditions in our area | |||
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Affordable Excellence Inspired by Family Tradition |
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905.855.1030 |
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Visit our new location: 2359 Royal Windsor Drive, Mississauga On (South of QEW 1 km West of Southdown Road) |
| WELCOME... | ||
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From all of us at Your Clarkson Piano Centre & FORTE Academy of Music |
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(Growing teaching staff pictured with City of Mississauga's Mayor Hazel McCallion. Missing: Jean-Paul, Bozidar, Natalia, Ruby and Natalie) |
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Few notes on who & what is behind the Clarkson Piano Centre - FORTE Academy of Music... |
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(Images from FORTE student recital, Dec 2001. Special Guest Artist - Katherine Csilagh, pianist, Budapest Conservatory) |
Image in the middle: Thomas Nagy (& his Fender) FORTE Guitar specialist - October 2005) |
(Prof. Irina Semenova Thain, FORTE Music Director, in Concert - Nov 2004, The Living Arts Centre Mississauga) |
| Our students, teachers and staff in action... | ||
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Clarkson
Piano Centre Ltd. and Forte Academy of Music
continues the tradition of the "Hrovat
Piano Studio" established in Clarkson
Village, Mississauga, shortly after Boris
and his young family immigrated to Canada in
January of 1994.
(Hrovat Piano Studio - First Recital in Canada - May/1994, Boris performing for students and parents) |
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But the real roots of the “Ontario’s Favourite Piano Destination”, as customers call this operation that teaches music and offers an array of piano-related services, are in a deep passion for piano and music that has dominated the Hrovat family for four generations. Boris simply “grew with music” with his grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins… teaching, performing, adjudicating, recording, or just having a good, family time around a piano. |
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It is no coincidence that Boris’s wife, Vesna shares the love and passion for music, is a beloved piano teacher, Forte Academy’s Instructor and Education Coordinator. Boris and Vesna are proud of their growing staff of carefully selected, fantastic music professionals – teachers, performers, technicians. Today, they are an enthusiastic, friendly and FUN TEAM that offers a positive, supportive, inspiring learning environment and a welcoming, pleasant, helpful, customer-oriented piano retail environment. |
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| (photo: Boris & Vesna by the Glen Gould's piano -Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto, 2003) | ||
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| Clarkson Piano Centre Ltd. takes pride in fact that is rooted in the piano performance and teaching. The retail component is a natural continuation and expansion of the founding family's teaching and performing tradition. | |
| Life-long relationship with piano, twenty five years of teaching and live performing on different acoustic pianos, digital pianos and keyboards means in-depth understanding of what different instruments offer with respect to their responsiveness, performance, durability, versatility, tonal color, projection, balance, touch... | |
| Photo: Live performance and recording session, Pula, Croatia (1986) |
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The personal
interest in pianos, and good fortune have
helped Boris made valuable and unique
contacts with many leading manufacturers and
distributors of acoustic and digital pianos.
Those, combined with Boris' teaching and
performing experience,
careful-shopper-attitude and low-overhead
approach all created the winning formula for
- the Piano Buyer!
The ever-growing list of
enthusiastic customers, built in great part
by the satisfied customers' referrals is a
testament on how knowledge,
enthusiasm, superb customer service and
passion for what we do - wins. More importantly - YOU WIN by purchasing your piano from Clarkson Piano Centre Ltd.!
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Image showing Boris with Mr. Henry Z. Steinway - Steinway Hall, NYC |
| If you wish to read more on... |
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...People behind the Clarkson Piano Centre & Forte Academy of Music |
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(more images coming soon) |
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Raised in a musical family,
and living in a country with exceptionally rich musical
tradition, just steps away from major European musical
mega-cities, Boris (of Slovenian/Croatian descent) was first introduced to piano in
Zagreb,
Croatia, by his grandfather, Franc - church organist, choir
director, teacher and pianist, a true baroque repertoire
lover. Franc Hrovat has performed and taught in his native
Slovenia,
Croatia,
Hungary,
Italy,
Austria, and from 1903 to
1918
in Chicago, Illinois, USA. To this day Boris remembers his passionate performances of J.S. Bach’s works. |
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Image showing Franc Hrovat at the church organ, Chicago,Ill circa 1912 |
| Boris' grandmothers both played piano and sang. Boris’s father, a physician, despite his early death, is remembered as a passionate bandoneon player and multilingual vocalist, and his brother, Raymond, Boris’ late uncle, was a conductor, arranger and respected music professor. |
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| His son, Boris’s cousin Dr.Vladimir Hrovat (Mus.PhD), National Philharmonic Orchestra violinist, a Concert-Master, is an international recording artist, member of CISAC, conductor, composer and educator in demand. Both Boris’s mother and her sister played and taught piano and Boris especially credits them for all the input, coaching, support and the necessary encouragement on his path from his early beginnings to the fuller understanding of the "power of music". His aunt Lillian is a performance professor, concert pianist, recording artist and author of many recognized performance-related publications, and his mother is a retired piano and music teacher, and early childhood music education specialist. Boris remains grateful to his mother for instilling in him the seeds of creative exploration, ideals and values towards the excellence in music and in life, with strong emphasis on the values of honesty, trust, perseverance, friendship and above all – family. | |
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Boris Hrovat & Music - The Profile (By Prof. Maida Balonek) |
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(more images coming soon) |
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Prof. Maida
Balonek (pictured with Boris and Vesna) was
Boris' childhood music teacher and is FORTE
Academy of Music Instructor - relationship
lasts to date!
Image taken during the recent Grand Opening Event- opening of the FORTE Academy's second location @2359 Royal Windsor Drive. |
| Boris was taught the piano in his home, but his mother, piano and music teacher, believed that school-studio environment was best, so his studies continued at the State School of Music followed by the extensive course of study offered at the State Conservatory of Music. The typical day for Boris, "double" full-time student, for years, would start in the morning with the primary (or, later, secondary school) and would continue in the afternoon at the State Music School (or, later at the Conservatory). There, the program included serious piano study (works by Mozart, Bach, Haydn, Handel, Brahms Debussy Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Rachmaninoff and many more) as well as a comprehensive curriculum with theory, solfege, harmony, counterpoint, forms, history, conducting, arranging, pedagogy & methodology to name a few. |
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Such
condensed daily schedule made Boris learn
from early age, first hand,
time-management skills. Over the course of
years, Boris studied under many prominent
teachers of the country, and was
particularly fortunate to study with
Prof.
Angelina Pap, master instructor,
Conservatory
performance professor, examiner, adjudicator
that has studied, taught and performed
in Russia, UK, France, Ukraine, Poland, Czech
Republic, Italy, Austria, Germany, and
more...
Professor Pap is a concert artist and brilliant pedagogue that has devoted her life to music and the art of teaching the piano – performance, style and interpretation. She has produced many world-class concert pianists that perform, record and teach in many European countries, in Japan, New Zealand, Australia, USA & Canada. Professor Pap's daughter, Milica Pap is a World-Class concert-pianist, recording artist educator and promoter of music and music education. |
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(image showing Boris visiting prof. Angelina Pap in 2001 - photo taken in a piano studio in which Boris studied 1974-1985) |
To this day, Boris keeps ties with his favorite teacher, mentor and friend Prof. Pap . |
(Above: Milica Pap, Concert Pianist) |
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Besides
exams, his studies were enriched through numerous provincial,
federal and international festivals, concerts and
competitions. Admittedly a very shy child - a firm believer in
"the power of performance" -today Boris
credits all those challenging performances before the audience
for not only helping him develop his musicianship, but
self-esteem, poise and self-confidence, well needed in time to
come. On the spontaneous request of one of his instructors,
Boris started offering piano lessons when he was barely 16 –
and does it until today! Image on the left showing Boris giving the autographs to his students (1986) following the live TV-show; First young student is today the concert-mistress of Auckland, New Zeeland Symphony Orchestra - image coming soon!
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He graduated with the performer’s as well as the teacher’s Diploma (First Class Hons With Dist.), received his professional designation at the age of 19 and the highest award - Federal Ministry of Education (Yugoslavia) Golden Award for the Outstanding Achievement throughout the study. It all looked that young pianist is going the concert-route, however, Boris decided to rather keep music as his passion and enjoy it while he pursued medical/dental study, six years later becoming a licensed dental surgeon. For Boris, the extensive medical school training that included pre-clinical and, later, clinical study, just re-confirmed the remarkable impact of music on a child's development as well as an outlet for creativity, energy and emotions – and to the well-being of every individual. He also greatly credit the intense musical training for assisting his academic achievements - by building and improving the memory skills, conceptualization, learning strategies planning and time-management skills, and more. However, Prof. Pap told him: "Boris, music is under your skin, and one way or the another it is going to stay with you for the rest of your life!" |
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So, Boris’ university years were filled with – music: He continued private studies with distinguished artists: Prof. Miroslav Maraus, composer, producer, arranger - student of the famous Henry Mancini; and (with) Prof. Milas Nikolich , retired international recording artist, conductor, pianist- colleague and arranger for the legendary Stephane Grapelli. Boris praises those studies as absolutely remarkable, priceless experience, that has offered him an in-depth, extraordinary approach to musical thinking, creative exploration…towards "musical freedom" and real enjoyment of the music by bringing the music to others… ( Image taken during the live-show and recording - May 1985 ) |
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Boris enjoyed live performance and experienced it all: from local bars, taverns, restaurants, clubs, pubs…to more and more attractive venues, over time became a featured performer at many special events- gala-parties, fashion shows, with frequent live radio and TV performances and recording sessions. |
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image coming soon |
He performed in some of the most prestigious former Yugoslavia’s venues, National Park & exclusive diplomatic resort Brioni ("Brijuni"); at best hotels in Dubrovnik ("The Pearl of Adriatic"), Pula, For the 1984 Olympic Games he entertained distinguished guests – IOC members, athletes, celebrities (including Kirk Douglas and crew, John Denver & many more) as well as in Slovenia, Italy, Austria, Germany, Poland & London, England. |
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Boris quickly learned about and became attracted by technology - and implemented the use of an electronic keyboard, performed as one-man-band and learned the practical possibilities of advanced MIDI/sequencing applications and digital orchestrations. He thinks that is all "great fun"! |
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Boris feels that years of live performing, on an array of different pianos and keyboards have offered him extensive, in-depth understanding of the tonal and mechanical performance of the piano, assisting him in today’s piano aspect of his business. However, with difficulties that part of Europe experienced in early 1990s, Boris with his wife Vesna and small son, immigrated to Canada in 1994. Boris likes to say that music has helped him quickly rebuild his life, and his joyful musical path - teaching and performing has continued, now in Canada, best confirming the quality of the skill and knowledge Boris brought to Canada as well as the possibilities and universality of music. |
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Since 1994, Boris has performed, taught and trained tirelessly in Canada and US, while keeping strong music-related ties with German, Austrian, Belgian, Italian, Slovenian and Croatian organizations and individuals. Since arrival in Canada, he has worked with and/or performed at the Royal Conservatory of Music; CTV; The Faculty of Music U of T; ORMT-association; Steinway & Sons Gallery Toronto; S & S World Headquarters, & Steinway Hall, NYC, NY, Samick Music Corporation, SUZUKI Music, Ibach Panos, Korg, Casio to name a few. (image - Boris performing at the Mississauga City Hall, October 1999) |
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However Boris admits to having his heart set on the Clarkson Piano Centre & Forte Academy of Music. Assisted by his devoted wife, Vesna, (and supported by their two children both FORTE students), Boris with his very own family business remains determined to deliver joy of MUSIC to your family home - either in the form of a fine piano, music lesson or …just a friendly MUSICAL advice! |
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