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Investment paying dividends
Ken Boucher, center, wanted the best for Suitland’s performing arts students.
Time was when students and faculty at schools in Prince George’s County, Md., could count on receiving a new piano every few years through a loan program with various piano manufacturers. But when the program ended, so did the source of new pianos.
And while that was bleak news for local schools, there also was an unexpected silver lining. Losing the loaner pianos actually triggered a campaign to acquire Steinway and Steinway-designed pianos for students at Suitland High School’s Center for the Visual and Performing Arts serving the school district’s artistically talented students.
It all began with a dinner hosted by Janet Adams Laird, director for institutional sales at Jordan Kitt’s Music in College Park, Md. – exclusive dealer for the family of Steinway-designed pianos in Maryland, Virginia and the nation’s capital.
Ken Boucher, chairman of the conservatory high school’s music department, invited two parents to join him in experiencing the power and tone of a Steinway grand piano… knowing full well a Steinway grand piano was well beyond the school’s budget.
Nonetheless, that introduction sparked an idea that might bring the Steinway name to the school. With Janet’s help, Mr. Boucher organized a fund-raising piano recital at Jordan Kitt’s so more parents could hear the school’s two piano teachers playing selections on many Steinway-designed pianos. That concert led to others in churches around town, followed by bake sales and car washes by the students.
Still, Mr. Boucher wanted to do more, so he personally paid to rent a Steinway grand piano from Jordan Kitt’s for the school’s Christmas concert, which drew 700 people.
“It was worth every penny,” he recalls, “just to see their faces. It was the first time many of the students had seen, heard or played an exceptionally high quality piano.” Next came the letters and telephone calls to the board of education, encouraging school-district leaders to consider the purchase of a Steinway piano. Well, it worked and the board agreed to acquire a Steinway grand piano for the school.
That unexpected decision, in turn, freed up the school’s fund-raising money to purchase two Steinway-designed Boston upright pianos (UP-118S) as well. Anita Lambert, acting director for academic support, has made high-quality instruments a priority, urging the board to acquire Boston pianos whenever the budget allows. So far, nearly two dozen are in place in county elementary and high schools.
“We wanted the top of the line for our students and that is Steinway. Steinway-designed Boston pianos have been performing very well and our students are thrilled.”
Mr. Boucher says Boston pianos are “the best value for the dollar. If you want young people to be drawn to that quality standard, you have to make them available.” What makes Boston uprights such a hit, says Mr. Boucher, is the action. “It’s all about how it feels under the fingers. Steinway has put emphasis where it matters, in the action.”
This artistic consistency, he emphasizes, allows students to rehearse on Boston upright pianos and take that technique to the Steinway performance grand on stage. And the investment already is paying dividends, as eight students were selected for the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Tanglewood Institute in the Berkshires, and every senior music student has been accepted in a college music program.