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descent track lighting illuminates<br />
the piano selection.<br />
“I wanted to have all dimmable<br />
incandescent lights in the<br />
showroom areas because they<br />
allow the natural color of the<br />
wood to come out,” Bukai said.<br />
“By using the dimmers and<br />
spotlights, we can make the<br />
grain of exotic wood veneers<br />
come out to fit a specific customer’s<br />
taste. It shows the customers<br />
that, using lighting,<br />
they can create the same effect<br />
once the piano is in their home<br />
to get the desired look.”<br />
POSH LEARNING<br />
Long Ridge <strong>Music</strong> Center,<br />
which is a part of Allegro<br />
Pianos, features 10 lesson studios<br />
— all acoustically isolated.<br />
The music school currently<br />
houses 200 students on all different<br />
instruments.<br />
“The synergy between the<br />
music school and the piano<br />
showroom is fantastic,” Bukai<br />
said. “It reduces the operating<br />
costs for both of them, and it<br />
works really well.”<br />
Bukai even equips lesson<br />
rooms with high-end pianos.<br />
“Sometimes people ask me,<br />
‘Are you crazy? Why are you<br />
placing high-end pianos, such<br />
as Blüthner or Estonia, in your<br />
teaching studios?’” he said.<br />
“But this is how the kids learn<br />
to develop musicality. I believe<br />
Allegro Pianos’ performance hall<br />
there is a difference between<br />
just banging on the piano and<br />
actually making music and that<br />
a great piano definitely helps in<br />
developing musicality.”<br />
Bukai, who has been selling<br />
high-end pianos for the past 12<br />
years, shows no signs of slowing<br />
down. In January 2011,<br />
he’ll open his second location<br />
in New York, along “piano<br />
row” near Carnegie Hall. MI
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