An extraordinary gift from an exceptional family:
The magnificent Andersons and the history of the Inn’s 1880 piano
The elegant Guild, Church & Co. piano which graces Brannan Cottage Inn’s parlor regularly stops visitors in their tracks with its unusual square grand shape and elaborately carved legs. Made in Boston in 1880, the piano was a generous gift to the Inn from noted composer/conductor Christopher Anderson-Bazzoli (pictured) and his family of Petaluma, CA. The piano has been in the family for many generations and came around the horn of South America to reach the West Coast. The Andersons have a long tradition of MD’s going back at least four generations. Christopher’s great-great-grandfather Alec, born in Nova Scotia, Canada, attended Harvard Medical, later moving to California to practice and is credited with founding Anderson Springs, another hot springs region north of Calistoga in Lake County.
Christopher Anderson-Bazzoli developed a lifelong love of music while learning to play piano on the Guild. Today he is a composer, orchestrator, arranger & conductor who has worked with the L.A. Philharmonic, as well as having a long professional association with the Disney Music Library. He was nominated for an Emmy while still at UCLA earning his bachelors degree in composing, before going on to earn his Masters degree.
The Anderson family became aware of the Inn’s historic restoration in 2014 through their family relation Kathy Bazzoli of Calistoga’s Sharpsteen Museum. The Andersons wanted the piano to have a new life where it would be played, appreciated and historically relevant at the newly renovated Inn, which has been reimagined and restored by hotelier Amar Patel and family. Musically inclined guests of the Inn often play impromptu pieces on the piano, which has a rich, resonant sound in the Inn’s high-ceilinged alcove.
Christopher and his father visited the Inn in November 2014 to see the piano in its new home. Inn owner Amar Patel says, “To say that we’re grateful to Christopher and the Anderson family for this astonishing gift is an understatement. The piano adds so much period character and beauty to the Inn, as well as the joy of spontaneous music when it’s played. Generosity like theirs is rare.”