[CAUT] Steinway school info

[Norman Cantrell]

David et al
   
  It would be a surprise to have Oklahoma City University at the preferred staffing level.  I would know as I am one of the three contract techs who service the pianos.  I usually come in twice a year, before the semester starts and assist in the tuning and prep of the 130 instruments there.  One other tech also is utilized in this manner and the third is the main go to guy for all the concerts, recitals, etc.  The school built a new state of the art facility which opened two years ago.  At that time all the inventory was put into place.  Some of it had been purchased about 5 or 6 years ago and was in storage until the building was built.  Needless to say the first semester we had a lot of pitch adjustment on our hands.  The pianos are new enough that major rebuilding work is not yet needed.   That being said after two years they are needing more attention in the high demand areas.
   
  The entire building has humidity control and each studio, performance hall, and even the practice rooms are completely soundproof.  It is an amazing place to work in that regard.  I can literally tune in a practice room next to one of the other techs and not hear anything but myself.  There was a lot of planning and expense in the design.  I am told that each practice room cost $100,000 to build before the piano was put in.  Each practice room has its own air handler to eliminate sound bleed over.  Because of the completeness of the job each practice room also has to have its own fire alarm.  You literally couldn't hear one out in the hallway.
   
  All was great until last fall when the humidity control went offline.  We finally got it fixed after a lot of wheel squeaking and things settled down.  I will be going in next week to help prepare all the grands for the state music teachers student contest.  In this case the facility far outshines the pianos.  It makes the 90 mile commute worth it.
   
  Norman Cantrell

"Porritt, David" <dporritt at mail.smu.edu> wrote:
  Alan:

I had tried to get a document like the one you sent a year or more ago
and they didn't seem to have one. I talked to Kent Webb and Sally
Kavaleski (I know I'm murdering the spelling of her name - Sorry) and
they couldn't seem to find a document with those details. The one you
send was dated January 2008 so it could be a new one. 

On item #3 I asked if there actually were a school that had that
technician ratio and they thought that Oklahoma City University had
achieved that benchmark. None others were mentioned. 

I didn't read in #8 that all pianos had to be rebuilt in NY. Was that
something that they said in the meeting you attended? I had asked that
specifically when I talked to them and was told that this would be their
preference. Perhaps they have now made this a requirement. 

Thanks for sending this!

dave


David M. Porritt, RPT
dporritt at smu.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of
Alan McCoy
Sent: Monday, May 05, 2008 3:00 PM
To: College and University Technicians 
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Steinway school info

I just went to a presentation by S&S about the program. Attached is a
document from that presentation that defines or stipulates what it means
to be an All-Steinway school.

Of particular interest is #3. BTW, if you haven't read the S&S
equivalent of the CAUT Guidelines, it is worth looking over. The version
I have was written by Gary Green in 2005. Its recommendations for number
of technicians (one full-time technician per 40 S&S, or one full-time
tech per 60
Boston/Essex) and parts inventory look to be more demanding than the
CAUT Guidelines. They apparently have a spreadsheet for this purpose. No
doubt this hooks into their initial inventory of your instruments.

Another consideration is #8 wherein any rebuilding will be done at the
S&S restoration center in NY. This effectively removes any
decision-making about rebuilding from you, other than choosing which
piano is up for rebuilding.

By becoming an All-Steinway School (I was about to use an acronym but
decided against it. :-] ) you are accepting the brand, being branded as
it were, and must live up to their expectations. They want to protect
their name, and you, as an All-Steinway School, are representing their
name, same as a dealer.

It's a choice. It may be a good one for the school and students. But it
is not without its trade-offs.

FWIW,

Alan


-- Alan McCoy, RPT
Eastern Washington University
amccoy at mail.ewu.edu
509-359-4627
509-999-9512


> From: Fred Sturm 
> Reply-To: "College and University Technicians " 
> 
> Date: Mon, 05 May 2008 08:13:42 -0600
> To: "College and University Technicians " 
> Subject: Re: [CAUT] Steinway school info
> 
> Hi Chris,
> You might be surprised about raising money. A case in point from UNM:
> a guy who had been a violin student at UNM but changed to math. Became

> a math teacher at a university (some other state), but kept up his 
> interest in music, performing as section violinist in regional 
> orchestras and doing chamber music. He got interested in collecting 
> instruments, and ended up with a "matching" string quartet. In his 
> 80s, he decided to donate them, and approached our music department, 
> because of fond feelings about his violin prof. We had been in the 
> process of dedicating our rehearsal hall to the memory of this prof, 
> so maybe he heard about that, and it got him thinking.
> So for the last ten years, we have had a graduate string quartet (they

> get to use the instruments, and get a scholarship), underwritten by 
> him, and he is (now in his 90s) finishing paperwork to endow $500,000 
> in scholarships for string students. All from a very unassuming guy 
> who doesn't have children and wants to do something meaningful with 
> what is probably the accumulation of TIAA/CREF retirement account 
> money.
> The point being that you don't have to have a BIll Gates among your 
> alums to raise substantial sums of money. But it does take some effort

> and communication.
> Regards,
> Fred Sturm
> University of New Mexico
> fssturm at unm.edu
> 
> 
> 
> On May 2, 2008, at 1:55 PM, Christopher Purdy wrote:
> 
>> Thanks to everyone that has responded to my questions, on list and 
>> off. I have received a lot of great insight and ideas.
>> Realistically, I don't see how this is ever going to happen here.
>> We would basically have to buy some 100 new Steinways and I just 
>> don't see us raising 3-4 million dollars. However, I have really 
>> been enlightened with ideas of using this to get the ball rolling and

>> start discussion. Plus, the new director knows the program and is 
>> very interested in pursuing it. If he's got the experience and the 
>> energy, I'd love to see where it takes us.
>> 
>> Thanks again to everyone. I've saved all the responses and I will 
>> really be able to use the info you provided.
>> 
>> Chris
> 



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