What happened to the Steinway concert grand that once stood on the stage of the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, carrying a plaque from Sydney’s Jewish community?
It was a question that sent the Sydney Jewish Museum’s Geoff Sirmai searching through archives, old memories and the history of Australia’s best-known concert hall.
Sirmai grew up attending Sydney Symphony Orchestra concerts and Opera Australia performances with his parents, John and Joy, first at Sydney Town Hall and the Elizabethan Theatre and later at the newly opened Opera House.
Among his strongest memories was the Concert Hall’s original Steinway grand and the plaque attached to it.
The inscription recorded that the piano had been presented to the Sydney Opera House Trust by members of Sydney’s Jewish community on 10 April 1973.
“Of course it had a plaque on it,” Sirmai joked. “Our community would put a plaque on a plaque!”
According to Sirmai’s account, Australian pianist Romola Costantino was the first to play the instrument in a recital before the Opera House’s official opening.
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It was later played by prominent Australian and international pianists, including Isador Goodman, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Jorge Bolet, Jorg Demus, Hephzibah Menuhin, Larry Sitsky, Rachel Valler, Roger Woodward and Albert Landa.
Sirmai’s early inquiries led him to Terry Harper, who spent 40 years tuning and caring for the pianos used in the concert hall.
Harper suggested he contact Theme & Variations Piano Services, founded by the late piano technician and restorer Ara Vartoukian.
That suggestion brought an unexpected personal connection. Vartoukian had attended North Sydney Boys High School with Sirmai, and the two had performed together during the 1970s.
Vartoukian died in 2024, but his widow, Nyree, and son, Tro, continue the family business. When Sirmai contacted them, they had the answer he had been seeking.
Vartoukian had restored the Opera House Steinway before selling it to a private owner. More surprisingly, the family had kept the historic plaque in a display case at their store.
They offered the plaque to the Sydney Jewish Museum.
The piano itself now has pride of place in the home of what Sirmai described as a “passionate old music lover”.
The museum is now asking whether a member of the community might donate a Steinway on which the plaque could once again be displayed.
Anyone interested in assisting can contact Geoff Sirmai at [email protected].
The museum is set to reopen in 2027 with a renewed focus on contemporary Jewish life and culture. To follow the museum’s journey or learn more, visit sydneyjewishmuseum.com.au.