In its early days, the choir had the use of a good acoustic upright piano for rehearsal purposes, but this was too large and heavy to transport to concert venues - so we were dependent on whatever instrument was available. Whilst many venues were able to provide excellent pianos, some were unbelievably bad - sounding somewhat "honky-tonk", having notes which did not play, and even being anything up to three semi-tones flat!
In 1991, the choir purchased its own digital piano. After carefully assessing the digital instruments on the market at that time, we chose the Technics sx-PX66 - because of its authentic sound and feel, and its powerful built-in (twin 50 watt) amplifiers. This excellent instrument has been in constant use ever since - and is used both for rehearsal and for most performances. Although primarily a piano, it has several other "voices" - enabling the sounds of a harpsichord, strings, pipe organ or vibes to be used to good effect for accompanying appropriate pieces. We have found the built-in amplifiers and speakers to be adequate for all but the largest concert halls, while other choirs who have purchased slightly cheaper "domestic" models have had to resort to the use of expensive and inconvenient external amplifiers and speakers. The alternative, which we have sometimes seen, of connecting a low power instrument to a public address system designed for voice amplification, is too horrible to contemplate! [We would recommend any choir wishing to purchase a digital piano to select one with a specification of no less than 50 or 60 watts per channel.]
At Easter 1998, the R.N.A. Club in Leamington Spa (where the piano is kept) was flooded when the nearby River Leam burst its banks, and the bottom part of the piano was submerged in muddy water for a period of several days. With the exception of replacing the micro-switches in the pedals as a precaution, and needing to re-polish the lower woodwork, this wonderful instrument appears to be no worse for this unfortunate experience, and continues to perform as well as ever!