History

The auditorium was originally built in 1924, but it wasn't until 1973 that it was named for Howard Chenery, who was the drama teacher at Central High School for many years.  There have been a number of people who have performed at Chenery over the years, including Anna Pavlova, Chick Corea, Diana Krall, and John Legend.

The Mystery of the Chenery Piano

Every Steinway piano gets a unique serial number when it is made, and ours was no exception. Unfortunately, someone painted over the number many years ago, so neither we, nor Detroit Steinway, could figure out what year it was made!

There has, however, been a lot of speculation over the years based on other bits of knowledge. For example, our piano was previously strung with steel strings instead of copper, which was a Steinway practice in the early 1940’s so that the copper could be used in the war effort.

Luckily for us, The Gilmore regularly uses our space - and many of their incredible pianists love and have chosen to play on our instrument over others that have been brought in. In May of 2019, Gilmore brought in Kirill Gerstein, a Russian-American pianist and professor of piano at Musikhochschule Stuttgart in Germany. He was curious about the age of our piano as well, but he has something we don’t - a friend at Steinway. He took a photo of the piano harp’s foundry stamp (pictured right), sent it off to her, and within an hour, she and the Steinway historian responded with not only the piano’s serial number, but it’s history as well.

Here’s what we learned:

• The piano’s harp was cast on 10/17/1932.

• The assembly was completed on 12/13/1940.

• It was then shipped to Detroit Steinway, and then straight to us!

We are so thrilled to finally know exactly how old our amazing piano is. Thank you to The Gilmore, to Kirill Gerstein, to Steinway, and to all of the students and professionals who have played and loved this piece of history over the years!

In addition to those we see every year, we’ve had the pleasure of welcoming many other wonderful artists to our space.

1920’s • 1930’s • 1940’s • 1950’s • 1960’s • 1970’s • 1980’s • 1990’s • 2000’s • 2010’s

Do you have any memories you’d like to share with us? Please let us know!

1920's
Jurian Hoekstra • Geraldine Farrar • U.S. Marine Band • Anna Pavlova • Louise Homer • Yale University Glee and Banjo Clubs • Anna Case • Fritz Kreisler • Sergi Rachmaninoff • Ameli Lagalli-Curci • Homer Samuels • John McCormack • Josef Lhevinne • Emilio DeGogorza • Frederick Stock • Lawrence Tibbett • Detroit Symphony Orchestra • Ossip Gabrilowitsch • Mischa Elman String Quartet • Ernestine Schumann-Heink • Marion Talley • Jascha Heifetz • Walter Gieseking • Giovanni Martenelli

1930s
Amelia Earhart • Eleanor Roosevelt • Marian Anderson

1940s

1950s
Johnny Cash • Ernest Tubb • Buddy Holly and the Crickets

1960s
Julie Andrews • National Ballet of Canada

1970s
Victor Borge • Bernadette Greevy • U.S. Air Force Band • Melbourne Symphony Orchestra • William Van Otterloo • Thomas Schumacher • Lee Luvisi • Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians • Vienna Symphony Orchestra • Mac Davis • Michael Ponte • Walid Howrani • Rotterdam Philharmonic • Edo DeWaart • Jimmy Swaggert • Pittsburgh Symphony Chamber Orchestra • Vienna Choir Boys • George Benson • Andy Williams • Van Cliburn • Marcel Marceau

1980s

1990s
Alfred Brendel • Peter Serkin • Andsnes, Tetzlaf, & Tetzlaf • David Owen Norris • Beaux Arts Trio • Danilo Perez • Elizabeth Laich • Marcel Bergman • Leif Ove Andsnes • Emanuel Ax • Krystian Zimmerman •

2000s
Murray Perahia • Fleisher-Jolley-Tree-O • Piotr Anderszewski • Juliard String/4 & Gilbert Kalish • Garrick Ohlsson • Dave Brubeck • Krystian Zimerman • David Ball • Australian Chamber Orchestra • Emanual Ax • Richard Goode • Ingrid Fliter • Andras Schiff • Kutless • Lincoln Center Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra • Ebony Fashion Fair • Caroll Spinney • Chick Corea • Bobby McFerrin • Jack DeJohnette • Mitsuko Uchida • Bruce Hornsby • Ricky Skaggs • Leif Ove Andsnes • Peter Serkin

2010s
Karen Ziemba • Jason Danieley • Louis Lortie • Matt Giraud • Kirill Gerstein • Ingrid Fliter • Dr. John • Radu Lupu • Richard Goode • Diana Krall • Ingrid Fliter • Vanessa Perez • Emanuel Ax • Pink Martini • Garrick Ohlsson • Mitsuko Uchida • Vienna Boy’s Choir • Bela Fleck • Derek Jeter • Daniil Trisfonov • Ben Folds • Andre Watts • Rafal Blechacz • Emanuel Ax • John Legend • The Kingsmen • The Perrys • Jackie Evancho • Sarah Chang • Helene Grimaud • Anita Hill • Murray Perahia • Red Sea Pedestrians • The Booth Brothers • St. Olaf Choir • Pink Martini • China Forbes • Yefim Bronfman • Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers • Tony Bennett • Michel Legrand • Rafal Blechacz • Jeffrey Kahane • The Collingsworth Family • Greater Vision Sir Andras Schiff • Chanticleer • Ty Herndon • The Erwins • Jamie O’Neil • Alpin Hong