Overhaul of UF's piano fleet goal of Steinway Initiative

March 6, 2007

When Boris Berman sits down this week to perform at the University of Florida’s fifth annual Steinway Festival, he will adjust his coattails and position his bench at a 9-foot concert grand Steinway & Sons piano.

Because of their quality and durability, Steinway & Sons pianos are widely held as the gold standard among performers and institutions worldwide. The College of Fine Arts hopes to gain 70 of the pianos through the Steinway Initiative.

The Steinway Initiative is a $2 million fundraising campaign begun in fall 2003 to replace UF’s existing pianos with new pianos from Steinway & Sons. In completing this goal, the School of Music would join ranks with such prestigious music schools as the Oberlin College Conservatory and The Julliard School to become one of only about 55 colleges, universities and conservatories nationwide with the All-Steinway distinction.

“The CFA’s School of Music is recognized as a leader in music education,” said College of Fine Arts Dean Lucinda Lavelli. “It seeks to provide the superior educational experience upon which UF’s reputation is built by providing these instruments to its majors.”

While UF’s piano program has a strong reputation among students, faculty and administration, many of the college’s practice pianos are outdated. A recent inventory of the college’s pianos determined that a few pianos date back to the 1940s.

“On a scale from 1 to 10, our practice pianos are currently about a 3,” said Boaz Sharon, a professor in the School of Music and head of the piano area. “To continue to provide high-quality practice pianos for the school and the program, we need to acquire pianos of an 8, 9 or 10 level. That would be achieved if our pianos were replaced by Steinways.”

New pianos cost between $60,000 and $110,000. The college’s highest-quality piano – the 9-foot Steinway used for performances – was donated by the Tedder family from Fort Lauderdale.

The Steinway Festival runs through Friday and features Boris Berman, head of the piano department at Yale School of Music, and Thomas Mastroianni, former dean of music at The Catholic University of America and current professor emeritus there. Other performers include students from Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music and the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. All events are free and open to the public.

For more information, visit the Web at www.arts.ufl.edu.