Kendall Ross Bean is an American composer, concert pianist, piano rebuilder, historian and entrepreneur from the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

Early years

Bean began to play piano at the age of 4 under the guidance of his grandmother Knell Bean who played live piano music for the Silent Movies. By the age of 8, he was composing his first music and at the age of 17, he recorded his first album as a youth soloist with the Utah Symphony. He obtained a Masters Degree in Piano Performance from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

Arts & Entertainment Network Debut

As a master piano rebuilder and concert pianist, Bean first performed on a piano he rebuilt in one of the first classical music videos to be broadcast across the United States on the

A&E Network A&E (an initialism of its original name, the Arts & Entertainment Network) is an American cable and satellite television network and the flagship property of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Walt Disney Company ...

which in 1985 had 18 million cable viewers. This broadcast coincided with MTV emerging as a medium for record production companies to use music videos to promote the albums of Rock and Pop stars. The novelty of a classical music video featuring a solo pianist and the inside view of piano hammers hitting strings, contrasted to the high production rock music videos it caught media attention from coast to coast. This was at a time when independent artists were rarely featured in the media, and bookstores and music stores only carried major labels. The video was titled: Kendall Ross Bean: Chopin Polonaise in A Flat.

Piano Rebuilder and Historian

Simultaneous to performing and composing, Bean began rebuilding pianos for Piano Finders in 1982. Kendall Ross Bean, member of the Preservations Artisans Guild, was chosen, with Karen Earle Lile, by

Mercersburg Academy Mercersburg Academy (formerly Marshall College and Mercersburg College) is an independent college-preparatory boarding and day high school in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Founded in 1893, the school enrolls approximately 4 ...

to research and authenticate the

provenance Provenance () is the chronology of the ownership, custody or location of a historical object. The term was originally mostly used in relation to works of art, but is now used in similar senses in a wide range of fields, including archaeology, p ...

of the Lennon- Ono-

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

piano before it was put up for sale to fund a Deed of Trust by the Shaool Family to

for future student scholarships. This was entered into the Piano Finders Historical Archive as Bean/Lile’s 3,521st piano appraisal, inspection and

commission. Because this piano was part of a famous lawsuit in 2000 and had extensive coverage as the “Lost Lennon Piano”, when provenance research done by Lile and piano authentication by Bean was revealed by the Alex Cooper Auctioneers to the public, the provenance became the subject of dozens of newspapers and magazines that picked up the story.

Recording and Rebuilding Pianos at Fantasy Studios

A relationship with

Fantasy Studios Fantasy Studios was a music recording studio in Berkeley, California, United States, at the Zaentz Media Center, known for its recording of award-winning albums including Journey (band), Journey's ''Escape (Journey album), Escape'' and Green Day's ...

as both recording artist and piano rebuilder began in 1985 and continued until this large independent recording studio closed in 2018. Bean rebuilt the

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, block chords, innovative chord voicings, a ...

piano, the

McCoy Tyner Alfred McCoy Tyner (December 11, 1938March 6, 2020) was an American jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet from 1960 to 1965, and his long solo career afterwards. He was an NEA Jazz Masters, NEA J ...

, the

George Winston George Otis Winston III (February 11, 1949 – June 4, 2023) was an American pianist performing contemporary instrumental music. Best known for his solo piano recordings, Winston released his first album in 1972, and came to prominence with his ...

piano and a 1952 Steinway D Concert Grand that were used for recording at

. In 2018, Bean was part of a collaborative benefit album for

KCSM (FM) KCSM (91.1 MHz) is an FM radio station in San Mateo, California. The station broadcasts jazz music, 24 hours a day, commercial-free. The radio station is not-for-profit, and listener-supported. The broadcast is mirrored as streaming media on ...

titled ''Two Weeks Inside Studio D'' on which he performed

Fats Waller Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, and singer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz piano. A widely popular star ...

's Handfull of Keys on three of the four Fantasy Studios pianos he had rebuilt and the sound engineer did a mystery mix of the three pianos in the same song. Over 60 artists recorded on the album, including contributions by

, Allison Miller (drummer), Taylor Eigsti, Mimi Fox, Rob Dehlinger, Tammy Hall, and other Grammy award winning artists and San Francisco Bay Area recording artists who had recorded many albums in the studio over the years.

featured the album extensively and raised over $300,000 USD for the station during their Feb 2019 fundraiser.

Project Collaborations

USPS Building Bridges Special Postal Cancellation Design

Bean is also the co-concept designer for the USPS Building Bridges Special Postal Cancellation Series logo with Karen Earle Lile. This 1992 design has been featured in numerous USPS pictorial postal cancellations since 1996 and features a black hand and white hand forming a bridge over water with a rainbow above. The logo was first designed and used on KTOP TV in Oakland in 1992 for a series of local music videos and then was adopted by USPS in 1996 for the first Special Postal Cancellation of the ongoing series.

Break Free on Wings of Music Project

During the pandemic, the

Oakland Symphony The Oakland Symphony is an American orchestra based in Oakland, California. The orchestra is resident at the Paramount Theatre (Oakland, California). Founded in 1933, the orchestra filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 1986. Musicians from the or ...

commissioned Kendall Ross Bean to write an orchestral and choral tone poem to a libretto by Karen Earle Lile titled “Break Free on Wings of Music”. The work was finished 4 days before Michael Morgan (conductor) died. The musical work was then dedicated to Maestro Michael Morgan, who had conducted the Oakland Symphony for 30 years, been a guest conductor at major orchestras and been a leader in keeping music programs in elementary and secondary schools.

Treasure Island World Fair Anniversary Celebrations 1939-2022

During the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United States On December 31, 2019, China announced the discovery of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan. The first American case was reported on January 20, and United States Department of Health and Human Services, Health and Human Services Secreta ...

, on April 16, 2022, two arrangements of Kendall Ross Bean’s “Break Free on Wings of Music” composition were featured in the Treasure Island World’s Fair Anniversary Celebrations 1939-2022 celebrating the

Golden Gate International Exposition The Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE) was a World's Fair held at Treasure Island in San Francisco, California, U.S. The exposition operated from February 18, 1939, through October 29, 1939, and from May 25, 1940, through September 29, ...

Treasure Island, San Francisco Treasure Island is a man-made island in San Francisco Bay, and a neighborhood in the City and County of San Francisco. Built in 1936–37 for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, the island was named by Clyde Milner Vandeburg, part ...

at the Treasure Island Museum. The first was a cello and piano arrangement of “Break Free on Wings of Music” performed live by

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

winning artist Jonah Kim and Kendall Ross Bean. The second was a 1939 big band style arrangement of the same piece arranged by James Anthony McMillen and performed by MoodSwing Orchestra. A ballet film choreographed and performed by Tiit Helimets and Julia Rowe at the Metropolitan Club in San Francisco was premiered at this event. This ballet film was choreographed to the cello recording of Bean’s “Break Free on Wings of Music” that was recorded by Jonah Kim and Bean on June 5, 2022 at

Skywalker Sound Skywalker Sound is the American sound effects, sound editing, sound design, sound mixing and music recording division of Lucasfilm. Founded in 1975, the company's main facilities are located at George Lucas's Skywalker Ranch in Lucas Valley, nea ...

the first day the recording studio opened after the Covid 19 pandemic lockdown was lifted in San Francisco. The ballet was staged inside the Metropolitan Club of San Francisco at a time when many venues were still shuttered because of the pandemic.

110th Anniversary of Glenn L. Martin’s flight from Balboa Pier to Catalina Island and 1st Airmail Delivery

May 10, 14 15 and 16, 2022, a trumpet fanfare and a clarinet/guitar and vocal arrangement of the 4th movement of “Break Free on Wings of Music” were featured as part of the ceremonies for the 110th Anniversary of Glenn L. Martin’s first Air Mail Delivery in Newport Beach, California, Avalon, California and Los Angeles International Airport. The fanfare was performed by trumpet player Chris Tedesco in Newport Beach and then Avalon after a helicopter flight to mark 110th Anniversary Glenn L. Martin’s first flight of a sea plane from Newport Beach to Avalon in 1912. The last fanfare was at the Flight Path Museum LAX located in the

Los Angeles International Airport Los Angeles International Airport is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles and its Greater Los Angeles, surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of California. LAX is located in the Westchester, Los Angeles, Westcheste ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bean, Kendall Ross Living people Pianists from San Francisco 21st-century American composers UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni University of Texas at Austin alumni Year of birth missing (living people)