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All-Steinway School Campaign

Partners in Excellence: Baldwin Wallace University, Steinway & Sons and generous alumni and friends

In January 2014, Baldwin Wallace University launched an ambitious initiative to provide 88 new Steinway pianos for the BW Conservatory. At the completion of this project, the Conservatory will join an elite list of music schools and conservatories worldwide that boast the All-Steinway School designation. As of spring 2015, we are more than halfway there. View a current list of needs and prices.

While students and faculty were enjoying their summer breaks, the extraordinary generosity of the BW community continued to fuel our Steinway campaign. Fifty new Steinway and Boston pianos have taken up permanent residence in our hallowed halls within the Conservatory. We are 1 PIANO SHY of the promised land and All-Steinway School status!

We are in the midst of the final push to raise $11,500 to purchase the ultimate new Boston upright to fill BMAC 109. We're more than half-way there with a goal to raise $5,000 in 50 days or less. We hope to exceed this goal, and when we do, additional gifts will be directed to the Steinway Maintenance and Preservation Fund to provide ongoing, outstanding care for our new instruments. Please join in this final push - and encourage your family and friends to do so as well - by visiting our Steinway crowdfunding page on Indiegogo. If you prefer to make your contribution by check, please make your check out to Baldwin Wallace University, write "Steinway Campaign" on the memo line and send to the attention of Laurie Larsen, Baldwin Wallace University, Alumni House 275 Eastland Road, Berea, Ohio 44017. We hope to announce and celebrate All-Steinway School status early this fall.

All-Steinway Designation: Commitment to Excellence

"The transformation is underway," said Conservatory Dean Susan D. Van Vorst. "We are halfway through the All-Steinway School campaign and the landscape for learning and artistic development in the Conservatory has been dramatically and positively impacted. Pianos are the primary teaching instruments for all music majors, and our commitment to this level of excellence is critical to maintaining the highest standards in musical training."

Robert Mayerovitch, head of BW's keyboard department added, "The Steinway reputation for excellence is recognized throughout the world. Our Steinway and Steinway Boston pianos already have made a critical difference in the way all our students practice, listen, perform and imagine."

"Practicing on a quality instrument inspires my playing and allows me the opportunity to experiment with subtleties of tone color. Ultimately, it allows one to reach a higher level of music making," commented one of our Conservatory students.

Generous Gifts Launch the All-Steinway Campaign

The first of the Steinways - 12 new pianos, including nine Steinway grands - rolled into Boesel Musical Arts Center in January. The purchase of this first group was made possible through a generous gift from the estate of Arline Kadel '36, who sang in the first Bach Festival in 1932 and attended all but one of the annual celebrations throughout her lifetime. "Arline was devoted to music, education and Baldwin Wallace University," noted BW President Robert Helmer. "This magnificent gift will perpetuate those passions and enhance the learning experience of our students for years to come."

Many other alumni and friends are generously supporting BW's commitment to excellence through philanthropic support for the All-Steinway Campaign.

Media Coverage

Notes of impact about the Steinway Campaign from...

Steinway Piano Donors

"During my three years at BW as a pre-engineering student, I loved all the opportunities to sing on campus and studied voice with Glenn Schnittke. Subsequently, concurrent with my non-musical professional life, I enjoyed an avocation as a tenor in the Chicago Symphony Chorus for 25 years under the batons of many of the world's leading conductors. Much of that time I continued voice study with excellent teachers in Chicago who had Steinway pianos in their studios, lending beautiful sound to accompany my singing. I was pleased to learn that the Steinway I have contributed is located in the studio, so I can pass on the musical legacy I enjoyed to other young singers at BW. My mother, Mary Louise (Roose) Houston '31, was a lover of classical music and supported my ambition to perform at a professional level. I dedicate my gift in her memory, as a testimony of her love of BW as well as mine." -Jim Houston '57

"Baldwin Wallace has various centers of excellence that distinguish it from other academic institutions. The Conservatory is certainly one of those. Both Sharon and I wanted to honor the memory of our parents. Sharon grew up in a household that was surrounded by country and western music. Her dad played back-up for Patsy Cline. My parents were fond of the big band sound of the '40s and '50s and my mom sang in a choral group. What better opportunity could there be but to preserve their memory with a Steinway piano that would foster the growth and development of the BW Conservatory and music theatre students." -Steve '69 and Sharon Koenig

"The Conservatory is a community asset as well as an integral part of Baldwin Wallace. It has been a part of our lives since we moved to Berea. We not only have enjoyed the music but we also have learned so much, and we appreciate the incredibly talented students. We see our gift as a thank you for all the beautiful music." -Carol and Jim Templeman

Piano Faculty

"Our Steinways and Steinway Boston pianos have made a critical difference in the way all our students practice, listen, perform and imagine. As more instruments throughout the Conservatory become Steinways, we've discovered that our students' listening for artistically discriminating choices rises dramatically. Nuances of color, voicing and balance become increasingly available for the piano students. Singers and instrumentalists who collaborate with our pianists discover that they now can meet one another halfway with subtly shaded musical statements that create real chamber music with their partners." -Dr. Robert Mayerovitch

"It has made a HUGE difference in my solfege (sight reading)/eurythmics classes. Having an instrument with a beautiful sound and overtones that are actually perceptible now gives me the opportunity to raise the standard in my classes because I know students are hearing the music from a much better source. Having that instrument is a game changer for solfege teaching." -Mary Dobrea-Grindahl

Current Conservatory Students

"One of BW's guiding principles is "intentional excellence" - stopping at nothing to find the very best tools and opportunities to expand and improve the growth of its students. I don't think there's anything more exemplary of that standard than the All-Steinway initiative. It's already transformed the Conservatory immensely, and I'm exceedingly jealous of the students who will get to see the fruits of this project once it's completed - after I've graduated!

I think the most significant way this initiative will impact us will be in the practice rooms. Everyone's overjoyed that there are Steinways in all our rehearsal spaces and studios as well, but the practice rooms are where we spend the greater number of hours. Now, you can go to many practice rooms and find a Boston upright with a touch as smooth and consistent as any of the grands you're likely to play in a recital. If you're there with music to study and analyze, you're no longer forced to suffer through a honky-tonk rendition; you can hear what it's supposed to sound like. Each key sings as if you were controlling a choir of voices. If you're rehearsing with your accompanist, you have an instrument that will support you and carry you, not the other way around.

Seeing and hearing the products of this endeavor, as well as the work of the individuals behind it, fills me with the fiercest pride for the institution that I have called home for the last four years." -Andrew Cooper, Music Theory Major

Our Partners

We are grateful to the following BW alumni and friends, faculty and staff, parents and students who have supported the All-Steinway School Campaign through their philanthropic gifts.

Anonymous

Christina Aldrich '10

Mitta Angell '63

Terry, Susan and Kelly '16 Autry

Rebecca Berg '67

David Bertoni '83

John Blocher '40

Robert and Janet '66 Brown

Dale Rieling and Victoria Bussert

Jeffrey Green and Nanette Canfield '82

Paul Cary and Sue Yelanjian

Patricia Ciancutti '57

Bob and Pam '71 Connolly

Conservatory Women's Committee

Victoria Covington

Benjamin Czarnota '04

Eric Grindahl and Mary '83 Dobrea-Grindahl

Jack and Agnes Dover '76

Robert '65 and Marcia '93 Ebert

Janet Edwards '83

Bonnie Eggers

Joan Ellison and Mark Friedlander

Howard "Bud" and Shirley '56 Engle

Anita Evans

Edmund and Jane Falk

Tracy Francescone

Edward and Christina Gentilcore

Mark and Thea Graham

Robert and Nancy '67 Gray

The Gregor Family

Kay Gregor

David and Janet Guyton

Charles Silverman and Joyce '59 Hagel-Silverman

Julia Hewitt

James '57 and Mary Houston

Christine Johnson

Suzanne Johnson

Arline Kadel '36*

Steven '69 and Sharon Koenig

Glen and Carol '70 Konet

Tom Konkoly '68 and David Soltesz*

John and Molly '97 Kraynik

John '65 and Judy Kropf

Katherine Kropf

Kevin '95 and Meredith Kropf

Kulas Foundation

Terry '91 and Meredith '99 Kurtz

Idarose Luntz

Carole Maatz

Daniel and Nancy '77 Maier

Nancy Maultsby

Robert Mayerovtich and Laura Kennelly

Andrew McLean

Earl and Patricia Miller

Tom and Lori Miller-Price, Josh and Zach Lewis

Judith Minium '82

James Mismas

Mu Phi Epsilon Music Fraternity

Laraine Neighbarger '64

Marta Perez-Stable '81 and Frank Shoemaker '87

Scott Plate and Cyril Nalty

George Pope

Tamara Randall

Tom '66 and Helen '66 Rathburn

Judy Riemenschneider

Jim '62 and Jean '61 Robejsek

Julian and Carol Ross

Tom and Suzanne '14 Shoger

Ben Smiley

Joan Smiley

Rod '85 and Debbie '86 Sprang

Michael and Angeline Strasser

Richard and Kris '88 Tabler-Nemeth

James and Carol Templeman

Scott '82 and Donna '82 Thomas

John Tomko

Floyd '80 and Christine Trouten

Patricia Tyler

Joanne Uniatowski

Susan Van Vorst

Jesse and Susan Vanderlinden

John '93 and Alison '94 Whitney

George '64 and Liz '64 Zentz

Sharon, Greg, Preston and Logan Zimmerman

*deceased

This donor report was generated on June 1, 2015.