This thread has made me think what a wonderful thing it would be if some school were to put on a festival, including concerts as well as educational components, which focused on and celebrated variety of instruments. Where what was taught had a focus on how to adapt music to particular pianos, how the timbre and set up of a piano can inspire difference of approach and interpretation. Such a festival could be partly sponsored/supported by a consortium of small manufacturers. It could also have a technical component in the background, with techs coming in to apprentice/get training in setting a variety of instruments in a variety of ways (providing labor partly in exchange for training). It seems to me that such a thing could be exciting and viable, for everybody involved, from manufacturers to artist/performer/teachers to students to technicians. Hard to put together, but I don't think impossible. Could be done at ASU, for instance, in an embryonic way, just using existing inventory. In any case, I would rather focus on what CAN be done, rather than on sniping at success. Regardless of the various opinions about all- Steinway, there are many levels on which the program can be viewed as a success, and not just for that one manufacturer. If it raises the bar among music schools with respect to their instruments, spurs on competition for quality of instruments and their maintenance, that is a good thing. The down side is homogenization. How do you best avoid homogenization? By tearing down what is successful, or by presenting an alternative? Regards, Fred Sturm University of New Mexico fssturm at unm.edu
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