Development News
100-year-old 麻豆果冻传媒 alumna gives Steinway piano to School of Music
Billye Spicer says an article about 麻豆果冻传媒鈥檚 All-Steinway Initiative inspired her to give her beloved Steinway piano to Tech鈥檚 School of Music.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 think of a better place for my piano to go than to the school that I attended when I graduated from high school,鈥� she said.
Spicer will celebrate her 100th birthday on July 20 and has played piano longer than most people have been alive. She began taking piano lessons when she was just four years old.
鈥淚 had a good teacher,鈥� Spicer said. 鈥淏ut the only problem I had is that I can play by ear, and my teacher did not appreciate that.鈥�
Spicer says her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother could all play by ear as well.
鈥淚 come from a long line of piano players,鈥� she said.
Colin Hill, director of Tech鈥檚 School of Music, and Lee Bledsoe, Tech鈥檚 piano technician, had the opportunity to hear Spicer play her piano one last time when they went to her home to pick it up.
鈥淭he School of Music is extremely grateful for the generous donation by Ms. Spicer,鈥� Hill said. 鈥淭his instrument, a Steinway Model B Grand Piano, is a world-class instrument and has been kept in pristine condition. It will be used for student, faculty and guest artist recitals for years to come. We were thrilled to learn that Ms. Spicer wanted to donate her piano to Tech, and we are glad this instrument will remain in the 麻豆果冻传媒 family.鈥�
Spicer鈥檚 piano will find a new home in the School of Music鈥檚 recital hall, located on the second floor of the Bryan Fine Arts Building.
In order to join the ranks of other top-rated fine arts programs in the region, Tech is working to complete the requirements to become an All-Steinway School. The All-Steinway School designation is given to an institution directly by Steinway & Sons. Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway, is an American piano company founded in 1853 in Manhattan by German piano builder Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (anglicized name Henry Engelhard Steinway). Each Steinway piano is handmade, and it takes approximately one year to build a Steinway piano.
To be designated an All-Steinway School, 90 percent or more of the acoustic pianos owned by an institution must be Steinway & Sons, Boston or Essex Institutional models, with the goal of reaching 100 percent as instruments are replaced. An All-Steinway designation will place Tech in elite company alongside the most prestigious music schools in the world and help Tech recruit the finest faculty and most promising students.
鈥淥f course, Steinway is the very best piano that is made,鈥� said Spicer. 鈥淎nd since I had one I thought, 鈥榃ell, I can just give it to Tech.鈥� It was my pleasure to give. I was very fortunate to have that piano. I had many years to enjoy it.鈥�
