The Mississippi State University Department of Music recently achieved Steinway & Sons’ prestigious designation of being an All-Steinway School after acquiring 50 new Steinway pianos over the last 10 years.
The All-Steinway School status comes after the conclusion of the department’s ambitious All-Steinway Initiative, a comprehensive fundraising campaign that gathered more than $3.5 million from 142 donors.
The status positions MSU among an exclusive group of fewer than 250 universities, colleges and conservatories globally that exclusively use pianos designed by Steinway & Sons. Besides MSU, Northwest Mississippi Community College is the only other Mississippi institution recognized for this achievement.
During the All-Steinway Celebration held on Aug. 30, MSU President Mark Keenum said he was proud of the distinction.
“From an instructional standpoint, for our students to have access to a piano of this magnitude is remarkable,” Keenum said.
The journey towards becoming an All-Steinway school began in 2012 when the Department of Music surveyed the pianos in its inventory. Their findings revealed that most of the pianos were in poor condition, and the average age of these instruments was 50 years.
In response to these findings, MSU launched the All-Steinway Initiative in 2014. After donations allowed the department to acquire 50 new pianos, the Department of Music now solely uses pianos designed by Steinway & Sons for students, faculty and community members to play.
Sarah Chandlee, a junior majoring in music education with a focus in clarinet, is one of many students who have directly benefited from this program. Chandlee was required to complete four semesters of piano instruction and a piano proficiency course as part of her curriculum.
“Before they got all the Steinways, they had a few older ones–some really janky-looking ones,” Chandlee said. “They were really bad.”
The Music Building recital hall now contains three Steinway grand pianos, each valued at $200,000. One of them is the Spirio | r, a state-of-the-art grand piano designed to capture and playback live performances.
During the All-Steinway Celebration, the recital hall lights dimmed and a spotlight shone on the Spirio | r. No one came on stage to play it. Instead, the piano played by itself, showcasing its playback abilities while performing George and Ira Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm.”
The public ceremony also honored MSU faculty member and recent Grisham Master Teacher recipient Rosângela Sebba.
“For us to have our very own Steinway artist exemplifies, again, the quality that we are achieving and will continue to achieve here in this department,” Keenum said.
The title of Steinway Artist is given to pianists who choose to perform exclusively on Steinways and must possess their own Steinway piano. Sebba also has a Spirio | r in her personal studio in the Music Building.
According to Chris Gilbert, the Steinway Piano District Sales Manager, each Steinway piano undergoes a yearlong construction process. Each piano produced by Steinway & Sons has over 12,000 parts.
“What I think about is the hands, about 100 hands or so were involved in crafting each Steinway piano over this yearlong journey,” Gilbert said. “But where the magic really happens is if you think about the thousands and thousands of hands that are going to touch these pianos over the next many, many years.”
In 2022, the MSU Department of Music completed its new Music Building on Hardy Road. The attractive 37,000-square-foot facility provided brand-new classrooms, rehearsal halls, recording studios and practice rooms. Today, there is a new Steinway piano in every practice room.
“They are all super taken care of,” Chandlee said. “They’re tuned regularly, too, which is huge.”
The pianos are not limited to MSU students and faculty. During the day, the practice rooms are open from eight to five, offering members of the Starkville community a chance to come and learn under an MSU faculty member and experience the high-quality instruments for themselves.
Keenum said these donations are a way to welcome more students into the music program.
“Making Steinway pianos the standard of our music department lets prospective and current students know that we are serious about music at Mississippi State and that we are serious about quality at Mississippi State,” Keenum said. “This gives our students an opportunity to have access to the finest and best instruments in the world.”
