Benefactor gives University of Akron $250,000 to purchase state-of-the-art piano

The University of Akron has received a unique gift from honorary alumna Kathy Coleman: a piano purchased with $250,000. The piano is not just any piano. It is a Steinway & Sons Spirio | r Model D piano, which is a high-resolution player piano. The capabilities this piano has will allow for music students and faculty to increase their musical skills using technological features and the piano’s connected app.

Coleman is entrenched in the world of piano music as a member of the Board of Directors of Piano Cleveland, which focuses on promoting music education in the community. She is also a longtime benefactor to the University of Akron. She and her late husband Dr. Lester E. Coleman, who was an alumnus himself, previously funded the Les and Kathy Coleman Common on campus.

According to an article on the University of Akron’s website, Marc Reed, who serves as the director of the School of Music, expressed his excitement for this unique gift. He was quoted as saying, “This is a piano that will serve our students and faculty for the next 100 years. It’s in our primary ensemble space, where our students, faculty and guest musicians give the majority of their performances, so everybody will have access to it. There are endless possibilities, and I am very excited to see how the faculty and students utilize it.”

The piano was installed on campus in January, and School of Music faculty received training from Steinway Piano Gallery to become familiar with all of the instrument’s capabilities and features. The piano is equipped with an app that captures live performance and can play it back for review. Also included within the app is a database of more than 4,500 performances from piano greats throughout history, including jazz, pop, and classical performances.

The piano will not only be useful for students and staff members who perform on the piano. The app will give other musicians the ability to be accompanied by a pre-recorded performance from a pianist. Students who compose piano music will also benefit from the app’s display of music notes and the ability to make changes to notations on the fly. Once a performance is captured within the app, it can be shared online or sent to another Spirio and played from there. 

Technology within the piano means that it replicates not only the notes played by a performer, but also the way they play, taking into account the specific way notes are hit. Reed explained how beneficial this is for piano students, and anyone enjoying a performance from a past pianist, saying, “It’s not just about playing the notes. There are a lot of nuances to playing the piano, how you strike the key and the way you do so. This piano, because it was built from its inception as a Spirio, replicates this exactly. You can watch how other pianists played, even though they’ve been gone for decades. To watch the keystroke without having them strike the key is incredible. It’s almost more beneficial than having someone play because you can see what the keystroke looked like without having their hands there.”

The University of Akron is currently on a mission to be designated as an All-Steinway School. According to Steinway & Sons’ website, this designation means that “Schools demonstrate a commitment to excellence and an unparalleled educational experience by providing their students with the rich, unrivaled sound, incomparable tone, and pristine touch of STEINWAY & SONS pianos. These pianos inspire students to realize their artistic talents, and best prepare them to compete at the highest level in the professional world.”

The Steinway Piano Gallery Cleveland has been helping the University of Akron toward achieving the designation. Ted and Theresa Good and Catherine Brulport of the Steinway Piano Gallery Cleveland helped organize a trip to New York City for Coleman, students, and faculty to tour the Steinway & Sons factory and attend a performance featuring a Spirio.

“Watching the future of the arts in our community come together, led by The University of Akron, is tremendously exciting. The impact that this first Steinway Spirio [at UA] will have on the faculty and students will be extensive and will grow exponentially with the All-Steinway designation. We are so grateful to the university donors who share in this commitment to Akron, students, educators and the arts,” Brulport said.

Coleman is hopeful that others will be inspired by her donation to continue the momentum and help University of Akron achieve the All-Steinway School designation. “I’m very supportive of this effort and eager to see how this piano will be used and how it will benefit the University. Once the community sees how valuable this piano is, I think that may spark other people to consider giving a gift to help meet UA’s goal of putting more Steinway & Sons pianos on campus,” she said.

For more information about the University of Akron, visit the school’s website.