Liverpool Hope’s new Capstone Building moved a step closer to completion today, with the arrival of the ten Steinway pianos which will make Hope one of only four “Steinway Schools” in the UK.

The main event was the arrival of the £104,000 Steinway D Grand piano, which was so huge that it had to be lifted into place using a specialist crane (pictured).

The Steinway D weighs more than six pianists at 480kg and is 2.74m long and 1.56m wide. The other nine pianos were able to fit into the service lift but because of its size and weight the D Grand was lifted over the balcony as nervous staff and students looked on. 

The arrival of the ten pianos, which are worth £240,000 in total, is another milestone in Hope’s history. The investment marks The Capstone as a major player in the cultural life of the city, along with the completion of the Hope Theatre, which is said to be “the best sounding room in Liverpool.”

Students were eager to be the first to play the new pianos, with one student saying “They’re the best pianos there are, it’s probably the closest I’ll get to owning one!”  

The developing Centre for Culture & Disability Studies (CCDS), in the Education Faculty at Liverpool Hope University, presents a seminar with the artist and activist Liz Crow.

  
 
Back in August, Liz Crow sat on the Fourth Plinth on a crowded Saturday night in Trafalgar Square as part of Anthony Gormley's One & Other project. She sat on her wheelchair wearing full Nazi regalia to draw attention to a hidden history and the message it holds for us all today.

Selected as one of The Guardian's Trafalgar Top Ten, Liz's performance on the plinth was part of a larger film-based project that is touring the UK and internationally. Resistance: which way the future? explores the Nazi programme that targeted disabled people, reflecting on what this history means for us now and inviting audiences to shape things to come.

In this seminar, Liz will talk about her work, screen extracts and discuss what it means to create new cultural representations of disability as a tool for change.

The seminar takes place on Tuesday 16 March from 4-6pm in the Lecture Theatre Complex, with refreshments afterwards in the foyer.

 
To register for this free event e-mail your name to the Disability Studies Administrator, June Wilson This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , putting "Liz Crow Seminar" in the subject line.  

Athlete and former Hope student Jenny Meadows set a new British record for the 800m at the World Indoor Championship on March 14th, winning a silver medal into the bargain. 

Last year's world outdoor bronze medallist was beaten by Russian Mariya Savinova but still set a new British record in one minute 58.43 seconds.

Jenny, who studied Sport and English at Hope, said: "I think silver is fantastic. I tried to keep going until the finish line. It was a big challenge and the girls were enormously strong.

"When I saw the time I told myself that at least it was a personal best. With 100m to go I was thinking 'I am going to win it'. But this event is very different and the medal is special to me."

Hope Associate Professor Dr Neil Ferguson is presenting a Keynote Address at The Peace Centre in Warrington on Saturday 13th March as a central part of the Northern Ireland - Isn’t it all Over Now? event. 

His lecture, Peacebuilding in Northern Ireland: Prospects and Challenges, will provide an overview of the Troubles and Northern Irish Peace Process before exploring the legacy of decades of sustained political violence before moving on to review peacebuilding programmes and activities currently taking place on the ground in Northern Irleand, and finally looking ahead to the challenging future of Northern Ireland and the prospects for peace and conflict transformation in the years ahead.