After 20 years, more than $1 million, and nearly 40 pianos, Virginia State University has elevated its approach to music edu- cation. The university has replaced many of its old pianos with new instruments from the Steinway & Sons piano company.

As such VSU is the ninth college and the first historically black college in the state to receive the All-Steinway School recognition. The designation was made in January.

For Samuel L. Rowley, chairman of VSU’s department of music and director of bands and winds activities, the designation is the culmination of years of interest for him, and decades of work by his predecessor. He believes it will pay dividends for years to come.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Dr. Rowley said. “This is an amazing honor for us. We’re going to definitely use this not only to improve the curriculum offerings, but also to make sure that we actually recruit high caliber piano players who come and study piano performance here.”

Dr. Rowley’s interest in Steinway can be traced back to his time at Huston-Tillotson University in Texas, an All-Steinway School where he served for two years as director of bands and assistant professor of music. There he saw firsthand the impact the equipment had on students and the local community.

“I really grew this love and passion for wanting to become an All-Steinway School during my two years there, because I saw how all piano majors really took off,” Dr. Rowley said. “I said to myself, ‘If I ever become a chair of a music department, I would love for this designation to be a part of the overall core vision and direction’.”

When Dr. Rowley became chairman of VSU’s Music Department last August, he arrived to find some of the groundwork had already been laid for designation in the early 2000s. Thanks to former music chairman Mark W. Philips, VSU had started evaluating which pianos needed to be replaced and already were purchasing new ones from Steinway.

With some Steinway pianos costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the final total currently valued at $1.5 million, the path to reach this designation has been costly. Nevertheless, Dr. Rowley convinced VSU leadership to continue the replacement process, leading to an additional 19 pianos being purchased recently, according to Susan Lutz, director of education and performance for Steinway in Richmond.

“(Dr. Rowley) got there really quickly on this last push,” said Ms. Lutz, who worked with VSU to purchase the pianos, and whose work covers piano usage for performances and teaching in Virginia, Washington, D.C., and parts of the Midwest. “I’ve never met anybody as committed to this project as he was from day one.”

The pianos purchased are now located throughout VSU’s department of music and campus, which currently hosts 56 music majors and features five music degree programs, the older equipment now in storage. Dr. Rowley sees this new equipment as a boon not just for these students, but also as a way to attract high-level piano majors, who will be looking to attend colleges with the best possible equipment to refine their skills.

Dr. Rowley also hopes the new equipment will help bring celebrated musicians to VSU for entertainment and education. Among the pianos purchased is a Spirio, which can record performances and replay them, and can also remotely mimic performances on other Spirio pianos from long distances. Dr. Rowley hopes this purchase will enable the college to bring renowned musical artists and their work to students in a new way.

“A person can actually be presenting a musical recital from the other side of the world,” Dr. Rowley said. “It’s that sort of advanced approach that we are definitely wanting to take, to make sure that our students receive the best education, but also have exposure to the best artists.”

VSU’s relationship with Steinway doesn’t end with these purchases, according to Ms. Lutz, who says the school and the company are “partners forever.” The company will advise VSU on when best to rotate used equipment into less prominent positions and when they need to be replaced.

Ms. Lutz said this sort of attention and care is necessary for the upkeep of the pianos, given how often they’ll be used for instruction, practice and more by students and faculty. It’s also the kind of attention she said pianos used in colleges rarely receive compared to other equipment, musical or otherwise.

“Universities are notorious for not purchasing new pianos because they don’t realize that pianos should be replaced just like any other piece of university equipment,” Ms. Lutz said. “They think that if a piano is there, it’s sufficient. But what happens over time, if they’re used 12, 15, 18 hours a day for 50 or 60 years, parts on the insides of the piano wear out.”

“These pianos are used from 7:30 a.m. or 8 o’clock in the morning, till 9 or 10 o’clock at night, every day of the week, for the entire semester. That’s why the life span is shorter in a school than it is in a home.”

An All-Steinway dedication event will be April 22 from 2 to 7 p.m. on VSU campus. The school will ring in the designation with a ribbon cutting ceremony, concert and a reception with live music, with the concert and reception to be ticketed events.

Beyond the celebration, Dr. Rowley has big ambitions for the Steinway pianos and the future of the department of music, including expanding interest in VSU beyond Petersburg through this new equipment. These plans and others under development are what he believes have the potential to bring the college to greater heights of success and prominence.

“It is my goal to build a world class, comprehensive music program that will compare to other renowned performance insti- tutions like the University of Texas, Eastman School of Music, University of Michigan and University of North Texas,” Dr. Rowley said. “As a graduate of an HBCU, I have heard from several of my colleagues at other black colleges that this is a dream that will never be achieved.

“My goal is to prove those critics wrong and bring this dream to life at Virginia State University.”