Lipscomb commits to achieving All-Steinway School status
Kim Chaudoin | 615.966.6494 |
Editor's Note: On Tuesday, April 14, 16 Steinway pianos were delivered to Lipscomb University's School of Music, making it one of 171 All-Steinway Schools in America. The week before that, a group of Lipscomb music students and faculty traveled to the Steinway factory in New York City to select two of the pianos that were part of that delivery. The videos in this article tell that story.
Music students at Lipscomb University will soon have the best equipment available for the study of music, as the institution recently announced its commitment to achieving the All-Steinway School designation granted by Steinway & Sons to universities, conservatories and other schools of distinction. More than 170 institutions around the world have this designation, including eight in Tennessee.
To receive the All-Steinway School designation, Lipscomb University’s School of Music will phase out the use of non-Steinway pianos in the program.
“Becoming an All-Steinway School is a designation we’ve been working towards for eight years,” said Jerome Reed, Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Piano at Lipscomb University. “By providing our students with Steinway pianos for lessons, practicing, and performing, we're encouraging them to rise to the high level of musicianship which a superb instrument provides and demands.”
Currently, Lipscomb owns six Steinways. In 2007, Reed led a trip to New York City to select a nine-foot Steinway concert grand piano located in Ward Hall, which had just undergone a major renovation. It was dedicated at a concert that featured pianist Frederic Chiu on Oct. 15, 2007. In 2010, the university added a second nine-foot Steinway concert grand as part of the renovation of Collins Alumni Auditorium. A third Steinway grand was purchased in December 2011 for piano majors to use as a practice instrument, and three others are located in piano teaching studios on campus.
To earn the All-Steinway School status, the university will purchase 16 additional Steinways, which includes five grand pianos and 11 uprights.
“The effort to achieve All-Steinway School status reveals the university's commitment to excellence in the arts,” said Sally Reid, chair of Lipscomb’s Department of Music. “Prospective students understand that they will be held to high standards as well, and that they will have the best tools available to help them achieve musical excellence.”
The All-Steinway School status will aid Lipscomb faculty in recruiting students.
“We are making a statement that we are serious about music,” said Mike Fernandez, dean of Lipscomb’s College of Entertainment & the Arts, which houses the university’s music program. “Studies show that academic leaders from institutions that are All-Steinway Schools believe strongly that having this designation not only improves their recruiting efforts, but also improves the performance level of their currently enrolled students.”
A 2013 Steinway & Sons study of deans, directors, department chairs and professors working at All-Steinway Schools, indicated that 96 percent of those surveyed saw an increase in requests for enrollment, and 94 percent said it helped draw higher quality students.
Building on the university’s strong liberal arts foundation, Lipscomb’s College of Entertainment & the Arts was formed in September 2014 with Fernandez appointed as founding dean. It combined the university’s art, music and theater departments with its fashion merchandising program and its graduate film and creative media program. New programs to prepare students for careers in contemporary music, digital entertainment, film, design, gaming and animation are planned for the near future. The college is an integration of several disciplines formerly housed in the College of Arts & Sciences (now the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences).
The mission of the College of Entertainment & the Arts is to be a Christ-centered, innovative, entrepreneurial arts community committed to rigorous artistic training, creative collaboration and professional growth.
Delivery day