Special thanks to Jazz musicians Lawrie Thompson, Karl Dunnicliff, Gary Holgate, Dave Goodman and Phil Stack for their assistance, wonderful musicianship and friendship.

A special thank you in appreciation of his great wisdom, experience and patience, to my dear musical collaborator and colleague in all styles of music performance, pianist Simon Tedeschi.

Thank you to Warwick Ross and the Elizabethan Theatre Trust, firstly for introducing me to the Stuart & Sons piano sound.Secondly for the use of the excellently maintained Stuart & Sons pianos which resided,during the period of this research, at the Independent Theatre in North Sydney.

Thank you to my sister and musician Marianne Goodyer for her tireless encouragement for this research project to achieve its completion. Her assistance and interest in compiling the audience survey results really contributed to the energy of the project.Thank you also, to friends and family for your constant encouragement, support and understanding during these past years of the all-consuming research.

Finally and most importantly thank you to my dear wife Maria Lopes for assisting me constantly and lovingly, and for providing the nurturing home life to work within. None of this work would have been possible without Maria’s assistance in so many ways.

This thesis is dedicated to the loving memory of my parents, Margaret and Ellis Hunt.