Hi, all,
For the 30 years I was at California State University in Long Beach, my load (as a full-time staff member) was usually around 75-80 pianos. I started with an inventory of 100 (including two harpsichords), but several old uprights had already been “surveyed” for trade-in and were not legal for use, and there were a few donated junkers that had never really been put into steady use. I managed to jettison many of those in the first few years. I learned that I couldn’t turn unwanted pianos back to the Campus Property office for sale, because any proceeds went into the General Fund, and Music got nothing back. I learned how to use their only legal system, a “Memorandum of Understanding” for a "No-Cost Trade". So I was able, for example, to trade 4 older uprights for a modest new grand. I also had semi-permanent requests for new pianos on the state lottery money list; each time we got lottery money for a new piano, I was able to trade in an older one.
I was assisted, in a strange way, by a few notable disasters on my watch. For example, a flood in the lower level practice rooms in 1994 took out 28 uprights and an old Baldwin grand stored on its side, in one day, when 14” of storm water went into the rooms. Uprights lost bass bridges, bottoms of soundboards and ribs let go, and so on. FEMA money helped pay for a few new uprights, and other money replaced a few, eventually bringing the total back up to around 75.
There was always adequate money to buy parts and tools, but no real money through the department for assistance with tunings or maintenance. I found the CAUT guidelines useful several times, and it was interesting to see the suggested technical support level change as variables, such as piano ages, changed.
Once again, our largest challenge seems to be educating those who have no understanding of pianos, how they work, how they need to be maintained, and how much their quality means to an institution such as a music school. For so many, they are just big pieces of furniture. Any assistance we can give each other on ideas for influencing or educating the decision-makers is very valuable.
Original Message------
Wim,
Somehow I had the impression that it was closer to 50 pianos. In any case, 72 is a pretty "light" load, relatively speaking, for a state university position. There are a few that are in that range, but not too many.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
"We either make ourselves happy or miserable. The amount of work is the same." - Carlos Casteneda