The College of Music at Florida State University is the third largest public university-based music program in the nation, with an enrollment topping 1,100 undergraduate and graduate students. The College’s history dates back to 1900, when music instruction began with only one teacher of vocal and instrumental music. Today, FSU is proud of its 124-year tradition of excellence in music education in more than 20 different areas of study. But when Dr. Todd Queen, Dean of the College of Music, looked closely at the school’s instruments upon his arrival at FSU in 2021, he could see that the school’s piano inventory was sorely lacking.
Here’s what Dr. Queen’s Steinway Inventory Analysis found: Total number of pianos on campus? 257. Total number of grand pianos? 100. Percentage of those grand pianos built before 1979? 52%.
To address the situation, last fall Dr. Queen drafted a proposal to FSU’s provost to enhance the University’s music program by increasing the number of Steinway pianos on campus.
“I think I made a pretty convincing argument,” Dr. Queen said. “I basically said that I don’t know of many other pieces of equipment at Florida State University that are still in use 80 years after they were made, but our pianos are, and they are being used every day, all day, by hundreds of serious students.”
In the proposal, Dr. Queen also pointed out that adding Steinways to FSU’s program would have a measurable positive impact on the overall health and age of the piano inventory and would allow technicians to spend more time on other instruments in need of maintenance and repair. Most importantly, he said, the new pianos would “significantly increase the quality of instruction and educational experience of our students.”
“We know that if we put Steinways in our practice rooms, those pianos are going to last, because they are such incredibly high quality.”
The FSU administration agreed and moved quickly to create a one-time allocation of funding, provided the proposed 15 new pianos could be purchased by the end of 2023. (The new pianos would join two additional Steinway Model M grands that had been purchased earlier in the year.) Within days, Dr. Queen was consulting with Christy Myers, owner of Steinway Piano Gallery Spanish Fort, Alabama.
“I said to her, is this crazy?” Dr. Queen said. “Can we find this many new pianos before the end of the year? And Christy just said, ‘Let me get working on this.’ It was a miracle. She found exactly the number of Steinway Model M’s we needed. We took them all.”
In late November, with Myers’ help, the College of Music received a shipment of three Steinway Model B concert grands, two Model O grands, and ten Model M grands, which were set up in a staging area before being delivered to their final homes on campus. Then, in early December, the College hosted a casual “Welcome the Steinways!” event, attended by Myers, FSU faculty and students, and Gavin English, President of Steinway & Sons Americas. The concert showcased the pianos through student jazz, classical, and vocal performances and ended with a crescendo of piano students, led by conductor Guilherme Leal Rodrigues, playing all 15 new pianos at once.
“It was unusual, but we thought, well, these pianos will never all be in one place again. Why not take advantage of it with a joyful event to celebrate their arrival?” said Dr. Heidi Louise Williams, FSU Piano Professor and Coordinator of Keyboard Studies and a 2023 inductee to the Steinway & Sons Teacher Hall of Fame.
The new pianos now have homes in FSU’s 215-seat Dohnányi Recital Hall as well as in four classrooms and ten practice rooms.
“A practice room in a music school is the worst place to put a piano because it gets beaten on all day long,” Dr. Queen said. “But we know that if we put Steinways in our practice rooms, those pianos are going to last, because they are such incredibly high quality.”
“The quality of the piano inventory has an impact on student recruitment. And not only that, but the quality of the piano inventory also has a direct correlation to the quality of the educational experience of a music major.”
By providing students and faculty with access to world-class instruments, FSU demonstrates its dedication to supporting the pursuit of musical excellence and fostering a vibrant and dynamic music community.
“The quality of the piano inventory has an impact on student recruitment,” Dr. Queen said. “And not only that, but the quality of the piano inventory also has a direct correlation to the quality of the educational experience of a music major.”
“With any major purchase such as this, many people benefit, from students to faculty to guest artists and the entire community,” Dr. Williams added. “The College of Music at FSU gives 700+ recitals per year. The impact of adding these pianos just cannot be overstated, and we can’t say enough how grateful we are to Dr. Queen, our Associate Vice President Paul Harlacher, President Richard McCullough, Provost James Clark, and Christy Myers of Steinway Piano Gallery Spanish Fort for making this happen. Throughout this process I witnessed nothing but enthusiasm and joyful collaboration. Our students are saying thank you every day as they practice and perform on these beautiful instruments.”
