Alexey Stavitsky's Piano Workshop

About museum

On December 7, 2019, the first Piano and Keyboard Instruments Museum in Russia was ceremonially opened in Rybinsk. The museum is housed in the building of the Red Gostiny Dvor. The organizer and driving force behind the museum in Rybinsk is collector and master-restorer Alexey Stavitsky. He lives in Moscow but brought his piano collection to Rybinsk especially for the museum. Alexey Stavitsky's collection numbers around one hundred of the rarest keyboard instruments. The oldest instrument is 180 years old. The grand piano was produced in the 1840s by the Moscow 'Eberg' factory. His collection includes almost all types of keyboard instruments: grand pianos, uprights, tafelklaviers — square (quadrangular) pianos, and harpsichords. In the two halls there are both concert instruments and "mignons" — their reduced versions — as well as children's pianos. On average 18–20 pianos and grand pianos will be displayed in the halls of the Red Gostiny Dvor, each of which can be played. The exhibits will be updated over time. Concerts are held at the museum; there are also plans to stage festivals and competitions in various genres, inviting both Russian and foreign pianists, musicians, and popular music performers.