Pianos serve an indispensable role in a conservatory聽education. Factor in the piano鈥檚 part in preparing graduates聽for satisfying careers in the arts, and you鈥檒l find many good聽reasons why Shenandoah Conservatory is going All-Steinway.
It is early 2012. Pure sound floats from ivory smoothness and ebony darkness as fingers caress the keys. In Professor聽Elizabeth Temple鈥檚 piano studio, a student toils on a magnificent Steinway Model 鈥淏鈥 grand piano,聽while Miss Temple (who retired in 2015) listens intently. Both are intellectually engaged, partners on an exciting journey聽of structure, contrast and emotion. Working side-by-side on identical Steinways, they labor toward a聽common goal, intent on the nuances of tone, technique and color. Both focused on preparing for that聽moment when the concert hall is hushed and the performance hangs in the balance, a pressure point聽waiting to begin with a single note. Just a heartbeat away, the spark of creative genius waits to fill the聽concert hall with endless possibility. It鈥檚 an experience Shenandoah Conservatory students rehearse聽hours upon hours鈥攁lone and in various ensembles鈥攖o fill with creative precision.
In Shenandoah鈥檚 dynamic, artistic community,聽nearly anything seems possible. So, in October 2011, when university leaders announced their intention to launch a $3 million fundraising campaign to transform Shenandoah Conservatory into an All-Steinway School, students and faculty greeted the news with enthusiastic support and excitement.
Shenandoah鈥檚 All-Steinway initiative demonstrates the university鈥檚 commitment to academic excellence and reinforces Shenandoah Conservatory鈥檚 long-standing reputation as a leader in performing arts education. To qualify as an All-Steinway School, 90 percent of the institution鈥檚 pianos鈥攆rom practice rooms to classrooms to faculty studios and concert spaces鈥攎ust be Steinway or Steinway-designed pianos. As a part of the $3 million fundraising campaign, $600,000 will be used to endow a fund for a full-time, Steinway trained and certified artist piano technician. When completed, 26 Steinways and 62 Steinway-produced Bostons of various shapes and sizes will comprise the new fleet of pianos, and Shenandoah Conservatory will join an elite group鈥攕ix conservatories in the United States and 10 internationally鈥攖hat bear the coveted 鈥淎ll-Steinway School鈥 status.
鈥淪teinway stands for excellence,鈥 said Shenandoah Conservatory Dean Michael Stepniak. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the most reliable piano in the world, and it鈥檚 at the heart of a conservatory education. To invest in a Steinway is to invest in a number of wonderful things. Yes, it鈥檚 an investment in the quality of music making in a community, but even more than that, it鈥檚 an investment in the students and the type of work they can do here.鈥
Steinway: Quality in Recruitment
鈥淎 Steinway program is a huge recruitment tool,鈥 said Distinguished
Artist-in-Residence John O鈥機onor. 鈥淎s our students learn and rehearse on Steinways鈥攕ince 90 percent of the concerts they perform will be on Steinways鈥攊t gives them a tremendous competitive advantage. As teachers, we can advise them better and help them develop as artists. It takes an enormous commitment to go All-Steinway, and it shows the seriousness of the administration to our students.鈥
Steinway: A Range of Possibilities
Steinway pianos are considered the premier-quality piano worldwide. Each one is hand crafted for excellence, and artists who train on them reap a range of benefits that these exceptional instruments provide.
鈥淚t鈥檚 all about the sound, and there鈥檚 a whole range of possibilities,鈥
said Temple. 鈥淧laying it in certain ways, you can draw out really delicate, warm sounds, and yet, at the same time, they can be intensely powerful, full and rich. The All-Steinway initiative gives conservatory students a chance to rehearse and play on instruments they will encounter in professional performance venues. It helps them understand what to expect and how to prepare accordingly.鈥
鈥淎nytime you have an instrument like a Steinway, you鈥檙e going to engage in a creative process at a much higher level,鈥 said Professor聽of Music Clyde Shaw, who teaches cello and coaches a variety of instrumentalists, including pianists, in chamber ensembles. 鈥淗aving a Steinway piano in a rehearsal or a coaching session is really important, not only in terms of how the pianists interact with the instrument, but how students are able to hear a quality instrument as a backdrop to what they鈥檙e doing.鈥
Pianos: The Cornerstone of a聽Conservatory Education
Pianos can be found in the orchestra pit and in learning spaces, studios and concert halls throughout the conservatory. They鈥檙e used in nearly every discipline: from choral to chamber music and musical theatre to dance. In some way, all students鈥攊nstrumentalists,
vocalists, composers, music educators, actors and dancers鈥攚ill rehearse, perform or interact with a piano during their time here.
鈥淪henandoah Conservatory students are on the path of discovering their own possibilities. Just having these instruments here is critical and vital to that endeavor,鈥 said Temple.
According to 四虎影视 Trustee Mary Shockey, this initiative will take Shenandoah Conservatory from being a very good conservatory to an excellent one. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a very good plan in place to raise money incrementally to purchase the pianos and to hire a technician to maintain them,鈥 she said. 鈥淪ometimes you鈥檙e given those moments in life to go from good to great, and this is one of those moments for Shenandoah.鈥
The initiative will also affect the quality of performances for local audiences. 鈥淎ll-Steinway status means something very special, not only to our students, but also to our community,鈥 said Stepniak. 鈥淚t provides a new level of music making I know is going to enrich many, many lives beyond our own students.鈥