After 15 years of support from Northern Arizona University Foundation donors and friends, the NAU Kitt School of Music has earned the designation of an All-Steinway School. This naming recognition demonstrates the university’s commitment to excellence by providing students and staff with the highest-quality pianos available.
To receive this prestigious designation, more than 90 percent of the school’s pianos are designed by Steinway & Sons, a company dedicated to making world-class pianos for over 160 years. NAU joins more than 200 elite schools throughout the world to earn this title.
“This momentous achievement is already creating a positive impact for NAU music students,” said Eric Lenz, director of the Kitt School of Music. “The quality of our Steinway inventory is woven into everything we do, from practice rooms to teaching studios, from classrooms to concert halls.”
The Kitt School of Music’s fundamental mission is to provide every music student with the highest quality experiences and instruments. The school launched the All-Steinway School initiative to propel student excellence and provide a distinctive, high-quality educational experience that transforms the lives of each student. Piano study is a requirement common to a large number of undergraduate degree programs, and students spend dozens of hours weekly in a classroom, rehearsal facility or performance venue outfitted with a piano.
“Having access to Steinway pianos allows me to practice and perform on high-quality instruments, presenting me with a greater sense of musicianship,” said graduate student Taylor Glomb who is studying Music in Performance. “I play and take lessons on instruments that push me as a musician to be better each day.”
Becoming an All-Steinway School was made possible by the collective generosity and foresight of the many donors who supported this initiative, including alumnus Don Brooks, ’76, NAU Foundation Board member, and his wife, Sally Brooks, a member of NAU’s Arts & Letters Advisory Council. With a deep-rooted connection and passion for NAU, the Brooks’, La Cuesta Society members, have given generously to the NAU Foundation for nearly two decades, supporting education and the College of Arts and Letters. Their daughter, also an alumna, sang in the choir where she met her now husband and began the Brooks’ budding interest in the All-Steinway Initiative project.
Thanks to the Brooks family and fellow donors Mike and Karen Kitt; Carol Lindsay, ’61; Tom and Lucretia Patrick; Don and Marena Hales; Kevin Baltzell, ’82; Joni Haug, ’78, ’89; and Dave Shaffer and Donna Weistrop, the All-Steinway School initiative is now a reality.
“This incredible accomplishment was also achievable thanks to the dedicated support from NAU President José Luis Cruz Rivera, the College of Arts and Letters Dean Chris Boyer and the former director of NAU’s School of Music Todd Sullivan,” Lenz said.
Support NAU’s elite music school and make a difference in the lives of NAU students by making a gift to the All-Steinway School Fund on the NAU Foundation website.