SAN JOSE, CA – As the first west coast embracer of Spirio | r technology, All-Steinway Valley Christian Conservatory of the Arts is entering an exciting realm of piano studies and performance in the Silicon Valley.
“I was immediately captivated by the recording capabilities and so many educational applications we could employ,” says Director Troy Gunter about his initial impressions with the cloud-based piano. Seromi Park, institutional sales manager at Steinway Piano Gallery San Francisco, made a presentation to the Valley Christian leadership team and it wasn’t long before the new Model D Spirio | r arrived on campus.
“First of all, it’s a Steinway and simply put a magnificent piano,” says Gunter. “The financial and practical implications are tremendous. While we are still determining how best to leverage its capabilities, our faculty and students are proud and excited to embrace this new technology.”
Gunter says Spirio | r is proving most valuable in recording settings, where students can take their time with the iPad interface to record and edit projects without the expense of having an engineer on hand. “Once the student is satisfied with their Spirio | r formatted recording, the engineer can then create a high-definition audio recording in a single pass,” he notes.
Students’ eyes widen when listening to their finished products from different areas of the concert hall. “For the very first time, they can step away from the piano and authentically hear what the audience hears, and that can be quite an emotional experience,” Gunter adds. Another major advantage lies in the ability of students and faculty to record accompaniment for vocalists, string, and wind players when a pianist is not available.
“For the very first time, they can step away from the piano and authentically hear what the audience hears, and that can be quite an emotional experience,”
For students and pedagogues, Gunter believes Spirio | r will solve a geographic dilemma that robs them of time. “Being on the west coast, I have had pupils miss weeks of school as they travel to audition at major conservatories across the country. While incurring considerable expense, they lose hours in class that cannot be recouped. I think Spirio | r will ultimately transform what in 2019 is an antiquated audition process.”
Gunter envisions Spirio | r as the platinum alternative to personal auditions, with formatted recordings that can be played back on other Spirio| r’s at other institutions without fear of sound degradation or other inconsistencies.
Hosting world-class faculty from the Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music and Peabody Institute, among others, Valley Christian has been an All-Steinway School since 2006. “We have a long and cherished history and are thrilled that they will set a new standard with Spirio | r in the Bay Area and beyond,” says Tim Stephenson, Steinway’s retail director of institutional sales.
