An All-Steinway Celebration

Steinway celebration

L to R: CVPA Dean Joe Scartelli, President Kyle and Department of Music Chair Al Wojtera pose with the All-Steinway designation.

Only 130 institutions in the world have been designated All-Steinway Schools by the renowned piano maker. Radford University joined that elite group in September, celebrating its new status with performances on a spectacular Steinway Model D concert grand piano.

“Some names have certain recognition signifying excellence,” Professor Al Wojtera, chair of the Department of Music, said during the ceremony in the Performance Hall of the Covington Center for Visual and Performing Arts. “Steinway is one of those.”

In a highlight of the program, Associate Professor Nitza Kats played Robert Schumann’s “Widmung” (Dedication), and Associate Professor Wayne Gallops played the jazz standard “Body and Soul” by Johnny Green. The two took a curtain call together to sustained applause and cheers from the audience.

For a school to achieve All-Steinway status, at least 90 percent of its pianos must be Steinways. Radford’s Department of Music now owns 37 Steinway & Sons pianos, with 16 of those being grand pianos