BRUNSWICK -- Billy Donovan looks forward to this day every year.

"Piece of cake," Donovan said, muscling up alongside a baby grand piano early Wednesday morning at the Bowdoin College campus. "It's easy. As long as you can handle the weight, that's about it. A little bit of lifting, that's all it takes."

Modesty aside, Donovan and a dozen co-workers from H. Nickerson Trucking hustled 36 pianos around the college campus on Wednesday in preparation for the prestigious Bowdoin International Music Festival. Each weighed about 700 pounds, and the big one -- a concert grand, destinedfor Crooker Theater at Brunswick High School -- checked in at about 1,200 pounds.

The festival, now in its 44th year, opens Monday. Considered the most prestigious classical music festival north of Tanglewood, it attractsworld-class musicians to teach and perform, along with hundreds of top-student musicians worldwide.

The festival, now in its 44th year, opens Monday. Considered the most prestigious classical music festival north of Tanglewood, it attractsworld-class musicians to teach and perform, along with hundreds of top-student musicians worldwide.

But none of that would matter if the festival didn't have enough pianos to keep them all happy. For about 10 years, Steinway & Sons has loaned the Bowdoin festival pianos as part of its sponsorship package. At the retail level, the 36 pianos at this year's festival are worth about $1 million. The festival pays for their transport, tuning and insurance, but otherwise has free use of the instruments all summer, said festival executive director Peter Simmons. They will be used in lessons, at recitals and performances through early August.

"Our kids will play these pianos 12 hours a day, seven days a week for six weeks," he said. "We're going to give them a workout."

After that, the pianos will be repacked and sent back to Steinway. Simmons orchestrates the parade of pianos from his office on Park Row. It's his job to make sure the right pianos end up in the right classrooms, recital halls and performance spaces. For Harold Nickerson and his crew, moving the pianos represents a welcome diversion from the usual work. After all, it's not every day they get to manhandle 12 tons of strings, keys, pedals and wood.

The pianos -- mostly Steinways and Steinway-designed Boston and Essex baby grands -- came from Long Island, N.Y., and Kentucky. They arrived via tractor-trailer after dark on Tuesday. Many are brand new. Steinway likes to send new pianos to Bowdoin so the instruments can get broken in quickly. A piano that has been broken in is considered more desirable than one that has not been played, Simmons said.

The pianos -- mostly Steinways and Steinway-designed Boston and Essex baby grands -- came from Long Island, N.Y., and Kentucky. They arrived via tractor-trailer after dark on Tuesday. Many are brand new. Steinway likes to send new pianos to Bowdoin so the instruments can get broken in quickly. A piano that has been broken in is considered more desirable than one that has not been played, Simmons said.

"We break them in, and then they sell them," he said.

First thing Wednesday, Nickerson and his crew began the monumental task of unloading the pianos and distributing them to 15 locations around campus and around town. As Donovan and his burly mates can attest, the work isn't as bad as it looks. The pianos arrive bundled in blankets, with their legs off. A skid boardunderneath makes it relatively easy to move the beasts around.

"It's all about having the right tools," said Donovan.

The work is a source of pride for the local moving company, Nickerson said.

"It's just different. It's not something everyone can do, or that everybody does. It's specialized work, and we're glad to do it," he said.

Once the pianos are in place, Russ Peckham of Classic Piano Services of Dresden has the task of tuning them. He was at work Wednesday in a classroomon the third floor at Osher Hall, which received 15 of the instruments.

His goal was to tune 10 of the pianos Wednesday, then return today. Peckham has been tuning pianos at the Bowdoin festival for 23 years, and isn't about to give it up.

"It's not Tanglewood, but this festival is so well internationally known, it's a very big deal," he said, standing over the open body of one piano andlistening intently as he plucked away on the keys. "It's such a big deal that a lot of technicians would love to do it."

As busy as he is this week, Peckham's biggest challenge is keeping up after the festival begins. He is on campus twice a day several times a week during the festival, tuning the instruments and ensuring their concert worthiness.

That's not easy, given the intense usage the pianos receive.