The $50,000 question

[Robin Blankenship]

There is a 1956 D up for bidding on Ebay at this time. As of last night, it
was going for around $15,000. Check it out.
Robin Blankenship
----- Original Message -----
From: Mark Graham <magraham@bw.edu>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, March 08, 2000 7:22 AM
Subject: The $50,000 question


> I'm back on the forums after a year's absence. I have an odd situation at
> our college and I'd be interested in suggestions or information about
> available pianos.
>
> Baldwin-Wallace College near Cleveland, Ohio is looking for a Steinway D.
> We have 2 on stage now, one from 1926 and one from about 1980. Both are
> heavily used and are showing their age. Both need hammers and restringing,
> which I'm pushing for, but I'm contracted for 20 hrs/wk, they have 90
> pianos plus others on campus, and there is no shop. I'm stretched pretty
> thin as you can tell, but that's another story.
>
> Two new piano faculty members, both excellent musicians, are pushing for a
> new D. One of them found a used Hamburg D. I went with them to see it, and
> it sounded great but was the age of our better one and showed much wear.
> In addition, the soundboard and ivories are cracked from low humidity. It
> needed a great deal of work, but the one faculty member felt about it like
> my son would about a sports car -- loved it and wanted it. Without my
> knowledge, the administration secured a $50,000 grant to purchase it. When
> I found out, I restated my original feelings, that this piano was not a
> step up for us, pointed out its shortcomings, and said I couldn't support
> purchasing it. The faculty went back to look at it, decided it really
> wasn't for us, and thanked me profusely for saving the college from an
> expensive mistake. Amazing!
>
> But now we have $50,000. The college is holding it for us. We don't get
> the interest and we can't invest it, but it can sit indefinitely. We want
> a D, but don't have enough for a new one, and the development office and
> other administrators can't come up with the difference. (I suggested a
> bake sale and car wash.)(That's a joke.) For many reasons I think the
> college should have a new one. The faculty wants a Steinway and nothing
> else. I'd be thrilled to have a concert Yamaha or other, but absolutely
> not, they say.
>
> We will, of course, talk with Steinway, but that's not my department.
> Perhaps something used from the artist department would be a possibility.
> Anybody ever been in a similar situation? Anybody know of the perfect
> piano for us? By the way, I'm posting to pianotech and the caut forum.
>
> Mark Graham
> Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music
> Berea, Ohio
>
>