Ohio Christian Receives Four New Steinway Designed Pianos

As part of a larger goal to become an All-Steinway School, Ohio Christian University recently purchased four upright Boston model pianos designed by Steinway & Sons. The pianos were delivered on July 24th and replaced four of the ten older pianos in the university’s inventory. Music Department Chair Dr. Brent Nolte hopes to replace the university’s other six pianos with Steinway pianos in the future and add a new concert grand piano to the collection.

The new Boston pianos were purchased through funds generously donated to specifically support the Steinway project. The new pianos will be a major resource to Ohio Christian’s growing Music Department and provide a superior quality of sound.

 “The length of the strings on this piano is as long as a baby grand piano, so the sound is just really rich and beautiful and better than you would expect from a studio piano,” Nolte said. “This is a significant step further as far as the quality of the experience we are providing to our students.”

Dr. Rebecca Johnson, who retired from the Music department last year and is a past president of the Music Teachers National Association, was the first to envision the goal of making Ohio Christian an All-Steinway School. As Johnson and Nolte developed the piano pedagogy certificate last year, they both recognized a need for higher quality pianos.

Nolte said: “Both of us had been aware of the All-Steinway Schools program and designation, and we thought ‘this would be a great goal for our school. It would put us on the map a little bit and it would show the type of quality experience we can offer our students, as well as, our commitment to a quality music program’”

The new pianos will be used every day by students and faculty for practice and class. Additionally, they will serve as the primary pianos for concerts and performances due to their mobility and durability.

“I’m very happy,” Nolte said. “These pianos are designed for institutional use. So, they are designed to be rolled around from room to room, which gives us a lot of flexibility. Also, the durability… they are meant to be played often.