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RAPID CITY, S.D. (Oct. 22, 2012) – Music Activities at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology has received the loan of several keyboard instruments, including rare Steinway grand pianos.
For many years Gene McPherson, a 1968 electrical engineering graduate has invested in Steinway grand pianos and placed those instruments where they might be used and appreciated. Two McPherson pianos are now housed in the Music Center on the SDSM&T campus. One is a mahogany M-model Steinway, the other a rare Steinway square grand piano that was manufactured in 1859 of fine black walnut. These McPherson Steinway grand pianos will remain the property of Mr. McPherson but are on loan indefinitely.
In like fashion, Director of Music Activities, Dr. James D. Feiszli, and his wife, Michelle, have placed two of their personal keyboard instruments, a Steinway upright piano and a modern harpsichord, in the Music Center for use by the music program.
The Steinway upright piano has been placed in a newly-renovated applied teaching studio. A double-manual French-style harpsichord, built by Sabathil & Son of Vancouver, British Columbia, has been placed onstage at the Music Center for the performance of early music. Predecessor to the modern piano, harpsichords were used until the late 18th century as the major keyboard instrument for all music. It differs from a piano in that rather than having hammers that strike the strings, a harpsichord uses a mechanism to pluck them, causing it to sound more like a lute or guitar. Of modern construction, this harpsichord has four separate “choirs” of strings, allowing for a wide range of sound variations.
The addition of these four keyboard instruments to the Music Center greatly enhances learning and performance opportunities for SDSM&T students.