Coastal is now a Steinway campus

Coastal has created a new milestone at the university by becoming an All-Steinway Campus. 

To be an All-Steinway campus means that the designated institution is committed to providing students with exceptional higher education with Steinway and Sons Pianos. Steinway & Sons is a German American piano company founded in 1853 by Henrich Steinway. Steinway had the goal of building the best piano possible.  

Each piano consists of more than 12,000 individual parts and with over 125 patents; Steinway continues to innovate each model. Every piano takes a year to create for they are handmade in their factory located in New York. Steinway pianos are known to have a set standard for sound, touch, and investment value making them the number one choice for 90% of concert artists according to their website.  

Philip Powell, professor of music, said having a Steinway on campus will bring a new learning experience to students. 

“Every student that plays this piano, are in awe at how responsive and beautiful the sound is. It is so great to have the tools to have them develop their ears because that is what it’s all about: music making,” Powell said.  

For Coastal to begin the process of becoming an All-Steinway Campus the music department had to determine how many pianos they currently had and whether they were donated or bought years ago. Then, as the old pianos were being removed, each one was replaced with a Steinway & Sons piano.  

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Edwards Collage of Humanities and Fine Arts, Coastal received two Steinway and Sons pianos. One of the pianos received cost a quarter of a million dollars and both were purchased entirely by external funding through donations and grants.  

Powell said these pianos will also help the surrounding public schools.  

“There’s other grants that are available for public schools for distance learning technology. If we could get one of these pianos in one of these counties, we could do lessons and concerts virtually streamed in real-time to places that may not have access any other way,” Powell said.  

To see these pianos in action, look for performances at Wheelwright Auditorium and in the Edwards Recital Hall throughout the semester.