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A musical workhorse
Tennessee Tech piano technician Lee Bledsoe recommended the Boston
Lee Bledsoe’s credentials say he’s a piano expert. So when he told the music faculty at Tennessee Tech University in Cookesville that the school’s 40-year-old grand piano should be replaced, they trusted him when he selected a Steinway-designed, 7-foot-1-inch Boston grand piano.
So, when he told the music faculty at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville that the school’s 40-year-old concert grand piano should be replaced, they trusted him and piano professor Catherine Godes to select the perfect replacement. Their choice? A Steinway-designed, 7-foot Boston grand piano (GP-215).
Mr. Bledsoe, the university’s sole piano technician, specified the Boston piano based on his knowledge of Boston’s reliability, dependability and its Steinway pedigree. That musical recipe would be essential for a piano played by many of the university’s 153 students in its bachelor-of-music degree program as well as by the university’s symphony and concert bands, two jazz ensembles and a community chorus.
And Brandon Herrenbruck of Steinway Piano Gallery of Nashville, the exclusive dealer for the family of Steinwaydesigned pianos in central Tennessee, was more than happy to facilitate an acquisition based as much on budgetary constraints as it was on a desire for a superior instrument. After all, the university already has two Steinway grand pianos. The selection of another Boston, however, was not exactly a leap of faith for the music faculty. Tennessee Tech already has six Boston grand pianos (GP-163), in use since 1993, including three in practice rooms used by music majors. These pianos must be durable, since they are played up to 16 hours a day. “The Boston is a real workhorse and that’s exactly what we needed for Haste Rehearsal Hall,” he says.
Mr. Bledsoe first played a Boston GP-215 while in New York for technical training last September. So, when the university decided to invest in a new piano, Mr. Bledsoe specified that model in his proposal. Designated one of the nation’s best values for a college education three years in a row, Tennessee Tech has been named one of America’s 100 Best College Buys and has been ranked six times as one of the Top Public Schools in the South by US News and World Report. It also has been tapped by the Princeton Review four times as a Best Southeastern College, and twice as one of America’s Best Value Colleges.
But that’s not enough for school officials who have launched an initiative to become an All-Steinway School. That vaunted designation would be just fine with Mr. Bledsoe.
“A piano technician should find that maintaining Steinway-designed pianos is a breeze,” he explains, “because they are built so well. As a piano is played, its parts are in constant motion, so if its design isn’t precise, pianists don’t know what to expect when they sit down to play. That’s not the case with Boston pianos.
“I know from experience that the Boston provides everything we need and the Steinway design ensures consistency and quality with each performance.”