Throughout the history of West Texas A&M University, musical arts have been a keen field for many students to invest their time and energy in. Recently, WT has hit another achievement by investing in and attaining some Steinway & Sons pianos, which are arguably the best in the industry. The Steinways are available for use by students in the WT School of Music.

Creating a Steinway piano is a timely and costly process. One grand piano requires more than 300 pairs of hands to build and assemble, and buying one of these pianos will costs a small fortune. The seven-foot grand pianos that WT acquired cost between $90 and $100 thousand.

“Steinway & Sons is the biggest brand out there. Over 95 percent of musicians use Steinways because you can depend on them to produce the highest quality of sound,” Jesus Diaz, junior Piano Performance major, said.

The journey of replacing and restoring pianos in the music department has been long and tedious. Dr. Parr-Scalin, Associate Professor in the School of Music, began the “All Steinway School” initiative in 2006 to attain the Steinways.

Now, nine years later, Dr. Parr-Scalin, along with the music department, has acquired 80 pianos all together, including two B 7-foot grand pianos, one D 9-foot grand piano located in the recital hall and 13 upright “Boston Pianos,” which are a branch of Steinway & Sons products. Along with the new additions to the collection, the “All Steinway School” movement also included the restoration of two pianos that have been a part of the WT collection since 1924.