recital room on the third floor of McMaster College. I have few clear memories of that
day, but I remember that the windows were wide open, as there was no air conditioning, and it was a very warm day in late April. The stage was tiny, but there was a rather sedate old Steinway piano, plus the organ console, and a lectern for classes. All those Steinways of a certain vintage had firm actions, so I was streaming with sweat when I finished, of course dressed in coat and tie. Everyone but me was use to the heat, and I particularly remember Dr. Hugh Williamson in his grey striped seersucker coat and bow tie, looking dapper and completely unfazed by me or the weather.
This memory set me to thinking about how all our Steinways came to roost in the(then) USC Department of Music. There had not been any new Steinways in a long time by 1964. I can visually see 6 grands in my mind's eye, all already vintage. I remember I inherited Dr. Williamson's studio, and he had a decent old Steinway, again very stiff in action, and another one that was rather battered. Dr.Williamson and Madame Trembly-Baker were the two piano professors at that time, and Dr. David (Dode) Phillips was teaching class piano.Fufure piano professors Charles Fugo, Max Camp, John Williams and Raymond Dudley were not to begin appearing until much later. I had accepted my new job with the offer of a brand new Steinway, but it took about two years before it appeared. Not long after that, yet another one came, and I absolutely loved it, and kept it until we moved into the new school some 30 years later. By the time we moved out of the old building we had built up to about 17 Steinway grands, and 2 upright Steinways. Some were so old and worn they were sold in a sale, and the choir room Steinway, which figures in this story, brought the highest price. I could not make myself go to the sale...too many memories.
It seems we were always moving pianos around, and I even let my nicest Steinway be moved a couple of times for special events. Eventually Fraser Hall was built, and we had two Steinway concert grands there. Can you imagine maintaining these instruments with the antique heating system in McMaster, to say nothing of the inadequate air conditioning, at that time all window units, except for Fraser Hall. One day not long after I arrived, I was driving down Devine Street and saw a small air conditioner in a display window, a new type unit for casement windows. I had a very tall, narrow window in one corner of my room, and it fit snugly into it, and could not have been any bigger than 15'by 15'. I let it run year round, and it did the trick of cooling my studio, which had enormously high ceiling and was large enough to hold classes. My Steinways started to settle in, and the only real bumps were the seasonal changes from heat to air conditioning,the heat from ancient radiators being especially variable. I remember Robyn Gibson came to visit and brought a humidity gauge, and my room proved to be 0 humidity on a cold winter day. "Just like the desert", I remember her saying.
During the summer of 1985 I was building my home in Hopkins, so I had moved into an apartment near the university for the duration. I had to practice at school, as my Steinway was in storage at Rice Music House. So, I suddenly was at school hours on end, almost everyday for six months. I would often be there on the weekend, when no else was particularly about. The building was always open until late, and even then hard to secure. I would go about closing windows in classrooms, and particularly seemed to be forever closing windows in the choir room, which had many, many tall ones. There was in the choir room a very nice old Steinway grand, and it never seemed to go badly out of tune. Sometimes I would practice on it. Grant Johanneson came to play, and he discovered it also, and inquired if it might be possible to acquire it! So a real seal of approval was awarded to it.
Imagine my dismay when I came into the room one hot July night and found a PIGEON nesting in the Steinway. I thought the term was "Pigeons on the Grass, Alas, Alas", but it turned out to be "Pigeon on the Steinway, Alas, Alas", apologies to Gertrude Stein...no pun intended. Too bad her name was not Gertrude Steinway. Alas. Alas.
Update all this to the planning stages of the USC School of Music around 1992. After so many years of striving to preserve our pianos, I was determined to get as full a quota of new Steinways as possible. I remember the piano faculty were all in agreement, but Charles Fugo, the piano coordinator at that time, sent me to talk to the Purchasing Office, to make the pitch. I remember his laughing about it and saying, "John, you know how to talk to those people". So off I went, presenting my request for two new Steinway concert grands, 9 Steinway 7' pianos for the four piano studios, and one for the pedagogy studio. Other pianos were also needed for classrooms and studios. "Pie in the Sky" was the comment from the budget director. He told me we had to divide the piano order into various companies, and go for the lowest bids; no way could we purchase all those Steinways.
I went back to the piano faculty, and we were rather at loose ends over the whole situation. Be as it may, particularly when dealing with The State of South Carolina, an
event came to past that reversed that decision. USC had just invested millions in a huge new system wide computer system. We were in the midst of registration the following year, when suddenly the whole new system crashed. There was all the faculty once again registering thousands of students by hand, a long, tedious operation. The South Carolina Legislature changed the state's bidding process, and allowed the purchase of top of the line products under certain situations. I am sure there was great consternation that second rate computers had been purchased. The heavens parted, and I received a call from the USC Purchasing Office to come back again. I did, original request in hand, and suddenly it was a whole new ballgame. We could have all our Steinways, and also several Baldwin 7' grands, plus (at first) a whole platoon of uprights from Mason and Hamlin, a small studio piano that both Charles Fugo and I went to play and found to be a very nice instrument. Unfortunately, the company suddenly went into bankruptcy, and we had to scramble, settling on Yamaha uprights. We still had
to divide the order between several piano makers, but it was a triumph to get all
those Steinway pianos.
Bids were sent out, and Charles and John Williams went to Arkansas to pick out the
Baldwins, and then I joined them for the trip to New York City to pick out all the
Steinways, at the factory on Long Island, and the showroom on W.57th Street in Mannhattan. Sadly, Max Camp was very ill at the time, and unable to travel. He trusted us to pick the three that he would need. The bid was won by Fox Music in Charleston, and Mr.Fox and his charming wife joined us for the weekend. He provided limos with drivers to take us everywhere, and we did feel like VIP's. Steinway personnel had some good laughs over "John William and John Adams" gracing their showrooms...!
Once selected, the pianos were placed in storage, I believe in Kentucky, for the wait until the new building was ready. I have a vivid memory of playing the Steinway I selected on the first round of selecting. It had the rich sound I loved, and the action was not so light. It was in a corner, next to a portrait of Rachmaninoff. I felt he
approved, and it only took a few notes for me to make the final decision. I was pleased when Joe Rackers mentioned to me how much he loves that piano, so I told him the Rachmaninoff bit. Unfortunately Max Camp died shortly after we moved in, so he never
got to experience his pianos. The last time I spoke with him, he asked if we were holding his pianos until he could come back. A very sad note. indeed.
Inquiring recently about the current number of Steinways currently in the USC School of Music, the total was 28 grands and 2 uprights. No new Steinways have arrived since I left in 2004, but a friend of mine did donate her wonderful vintage Steinway in 2000 to the school, and of course, there is the Women's Symphony Steinway, purchased in the early years of the S.C. Philharmonic. I played the Dedication Recital on this Steinway. I must not fail to mention my own magnificent Steinway concert grand, a former CD piano reserved for Steinway Artists, that I purchased from Rice Music House around 1980. It actually came from Fox Music House and was housed in Galliard Auditorium. Arthur Rubinstein was one of the immortals who played it. I am proud to have spurred on this great collection, and hope USC will continue to make wise choices.
