Kawai's University program

[Ron Torrella]

On Thu, 9 Mar 1995 Yardbird47@aol.com wrote:

> Check with Ed & Emily Hilbert RPTs. I think they did this for Middlebury
> College (VT) abot five years ago. You'll have to call them voice-phone.

Michigan State also was involved with Kawai's program.  As I recall,
after five years, they decided that Kawai had forgotten about the pianos
there.  I remember Owen telling me that he and Kristin Peterson were
routinely taking action stacks out and tipping the hammers (heads only)
into flowerboxes (the long windowbox type) that had some kind of hammer
softener in them.  The reason was because they thought the hammers were
too hard which they felt contributed to excessive string breakage.

Of course, Owen has now retired to the Upper Peninsula (far, far away
from civilization), Kristin is at home making babies (last I heard) and
Bill Schneider is (apparently) out of touch with the Guild -- although he
claimed to have been a member at the time that he was interviewed for the
MSU position (I checked; no.  The faculty must be clueless...).  *If*
anyone can contact him, I'm sure he has a long horror story to tell!

Ron Torrella               "Ideal conversation must be an exchange of thought,
School of Music           and not, as many of those who worry most about their
University of Illinois    shortcomings believe, an eloquent exhibition of wit
                    or oratory." -- Emily Post, Etiquette