recital piano usage

[Roger Jolly]

>2.  "Keys Please" --  The key to the Steinway is issued to Faculty upon
>request, and another key is available in the music office for students who
>show a permission card.  Students are required to make all the arrangements
>for their recitals at the concert activities office, and as part of this
>process, they are issued a numbered permission card which allows them to
>get the Steinway key.   The card is only good for a period of two weeks
>before each recital and the student's ID card is held until the key is
>returned.  Before this system was put in place, students were simply
>telling the office personnel that they had a recital scheduled and were
>getting the key months in advance of the actual date.

Hi Ken,
             Practice time should be restricted to the length of the
recital.  A Concert Grand, is just that, and not a practice instrument. If
the student is not able to handle the instrument with just a fews hours
practice, maybe they should not be in the programme.
If you want reasonable service from the instrument over a significant
period, a change in policy needs to happen.
Security pad lock and keys are availiable from good lock smith's, and can
not be copied with out a special code number. ( not stamped on the key)
This prevents student and faculty from going to the local drug store and
getting them copied.
We have 5 keys for each concert grand. 1. Head of the piano dept. 2. Office
for loan out. The office makes sure that the key is out to the performer
only 48hrs (max) prior to performance.2. For the two piano techs.
Scheduling year end student recitals is a balancing act. But it really hits
home that the keys are important.
It was only after the dept had to have a concert grand rebuilt that the
value of the instrument sunk in.
Two down, one to go. Like many other institutions, budgets are very tight.
Regards Roger
Roger Jolly
Saskatoon, Canada.
306-665-0213
Fax 652-0505