Common Sense Verses Prestige

I have read in several places on the web that Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music has just closed a deal with Steinway, the largest in Steinway history for the purchase of 165 pianos, thus designating the school an “All Steinway School,” a distinction shared by the top conservatories in the world.

Now this is slightly disconnected with reality, in a twisted way as Lisa from Iron Tongue points out.

According to Steinway, fully 98% of all pianists performing with orchestras last year chose their pianos exclusively. With the “All Steinway School” designation, CCM students and faculty will have the opportunity to perform and practice on the instruments they will encounter most frequently on the concert stage.

If in the United states alone 8000 piano degrees are earned every year - how many of those graduates, that had or did not have the good luck to study in an all Steinway school will actually make a living out of being concert pianists?

Not very many.

So what relevance or importance does it have, other than pure prestige with nothing behind it, to spend 4.1 million dollars on pianos.

It would be better, as Lisa points out, to spend the money on getting a really good teachers, or having guest artist and masterclasses, and even better, if you ask me, to spend some of that money on teaching the students all about life in the real world, which as we all know, is not all peaches and cream, especially not for artists.

Teaching the students Business management classes, creative thinking (in order for them to be able to think creatively of career choices that are musicaly inclined but not necessarily of concert pianists) and marketing would much more beneficial to the student body as a whole, although maybe a little less prestigious.