MANSFIELD, Pa. – Mansfield University celebrated the gift of four Steinway pianos from Lock Haven University with a ‘Transfer in Harmony’ concert on Thursday, Feb 24 at Steadman Theatre.
The pianos came from a generous donation of 22 Steinway pianos to Lock Haven University by 1966 alumna and current vice chair of the Lock Haven Council of Trustees, Margery Dosey, and her late husband, Dr. Seymour Krevsky.
Lock Haven, with Dosey’s blessing, transferred 11 of the Steinway pianos to locations where they will be played and enjoyed for years to come. Embracing the integration of LHU with Mansfield and Bloomsburg universities, and building on the established relationships with area school districts, four pianos went to Mansfield and Bloomsburg universities and one each to Keystone Central and Williamsport Area School Districts, with one to Faith United Methodist Church in Bellefonte.
“I am so pleased that Lock Haven University has found a way to make sure these magnificent instruments are able to be relocated to their new homes, so music majors and music lovers alike will be able to play and enjoy them as they are intended,” Dosey said. “This is what integration looks like. The giving of one to another. And also to foster young musicians’ love and passion for the arts by giving them the opportunity to have access to one of these pianos at their school or church fills me with joy.”
Dr. David Curtin, professor of music at Lock Haven University, Dr. Eun-Joo Kwak, associate professor of piano at Mansfield University, and several MU music students performed at the piano celebration concert on Mansfield’s campus. The concert included pieces from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Fryderyk Chopin, Rachmaninov, Edvard Grieg, and Jacques Offenbach.
Curtin will perform similar celebration concerts at all locations receiving pianos.
The four gifted pianos move Mansfield closer to All-Steinway School status and enhances the offering of musical instruments available to students. One of the pianos will be used in the Music Department’s recording studio, where previously there was no piano available. This will open recording possibilities for music technology students and the Steadman Studios student organization. The remaining three pianos will be used in a student practice room, the music student tutor room, and the faculty teaching studio and each are upgrades to the current instruments.
Dosey also has an endowed fine arts scholarship, The Margery Brown Dosey Scholarship for the Arts, which is awarded each year to an art major at Lock Haven. Following the integration of Mansfield, Lock Haven, Bloomsburg universities, Dosey plans to open the scholarship up to a student at any one of the three campuses.
Learn more about the Mansfield University Music program at music.mansfield.edu.
