Sophie Zhang

Palo Alto High School Choir Director Michael Najar shows The Voice the 1911 Steinway grand piano in the Haymarket. After a nine-year effort, the Performing Arts Center will be home to a state-of-the-art Steinway 9-foot Model D concert grand piano. According to Najar, many are shocked by the $239,000 price tag. “If you don’t know what it [a good piano] sounds like, then I can just play on anything, but if you know, there’s only going to be one, and we’re going to use it too,” Najar said. “We’re [the Paly Instrumental Music Program] not hiding this thing [the new piano], and it’s not just going to be for special performances. Middle school bands, if they have a competent pianist, will use it.”

What does $239,000 buy? For the Palo Alto High School, it’s a state-of-the-art, 9-foot Model D Steinway concert grand piano. After an almost 9-year effort, this piano will be home in the Paly instrumental music program starting in May. 

According to the Feb. 10 Palo Alto Unified School District school board meeting minutes, funding for this purchase is sourced 70% from donations and 30% from a combination of Palo Alto High School Discretionary funds, PAUSD Visual and Performing Arts Department, and Palo Alto High School Prop 28 Material and Supplies Funds. 

According to Assistant Superintendent of Innovation Jeong Choe, the district will pay around $30,000, which is about 15 percent of the total cost. 

Choir Director Micheal Najar said the new piano is a worthy investment for Paly’s more than 300 performing arts students as it’s used by over 90 percent of professional concert pianists. 

“It [the piano] would be amazing,” Najar said. “It will support all of our ensembles, all the orchestras, all the choirs. Then there’ll be students who want to do their solo rep, to find their solo ensemble. This is going to be a generational piece of equipment.”

Najar said as of now, the music program in Paly’s Performing Arts Center is using a Grotrian “half” or spinet piano, the smallest type of vertical piano, donated last year as a temporary replacement. 

“Our Performing Arts Center, I’m really proud of it, except for one thing: We have never had a good instrument that matches the quality of students who perform in that building,” Najar said. “We have some of the most talented people in the arts and music anywhere, just like any of the many campuses nearby, and yet they were playing on something that didn’t match their hard work.”

Najar said the new piano is meant to replace an old Steinway piano built in 1911 currently residing in the Haymarket Theater that is no longer repairable.

“Most of the pianos that were purchased by PAUSD were purchased in the 1960s,” Najar said. “All the other ones were either donations, or we have one that the choir bought in 2005.”

In a separate email with The Paly Voice, Najar added that the pianos built in the 1960’s were in disrepair, and those particular pianos were not meant to last long. 

In the same email, Najar said fundraising for the new piano was a years-long process that dates back to 2017 which picked up momentum in the last two years. 

“Many Paly Visual and Performing Arts families, current and past, donated,” Najar stated. “This includes instrumental, choral, theater, visual arts families and non-profit organizations tied to those groups, including the Friends of Paly Choir, Instrumental Music Boosters, Fiery Arts Boosters, Theater Boosters and PAC boosters.  We are grateful to every family who donated. Seventy percent of the cost of the piano was through donations while the district, through a variety of funding sources, contributed the rest.” 

According to freshman Leon Szegedy, who is an alto saxophone player in the Concert and Jazz Band program and has played piano in the past,  the Steinway would be of particular benefit to the choir program as the band has a wide variety of instruments. 

“They [our current pianos] work well enough for jazz band,” Szegedy said. “Choir is a more delicate program as a whole, and in band we have a bunch of different sorts of sound qualities. … The piano is only one small part of it [band ensemble], but the choir program will likely need a better piano because choir only has the voice instrument and the piano.”

Junior Tiffany Chou, a flute and piano player in the band program, said while getting a new piano is absolutely amazing, older pianos like the donated 1968 Kawhi baby grand piano are still nice to play and sound good.

“It [getting a new piano] is a very nice treat,” Chou said. “We actually have three grand pianos on the campus right now, … but it’s always really nice to have an extra one, not to mention that it’s a Steinway which is absolutely amazing. ”

Ishaan Juyal, a member of the Madrigal Singers under the Paly Choir Program, said he is happy about the new piano and is excited to perform with it.

“Beyond just the practicality of getting a new piano, … it’s also a symbol, because music programs at a lot of schools everywhere are infamous for getting the short end of the stick in a lot of ways,” Juyal said. “Even at Paly, where we’re a really well-funded program where we’re able to go on really cool tours, it takes a lot of work to make those tours happen. … It’s nice to have a symbol of ‘Oh, we’re being taken seriously.’”

Juyal said fundraising donations at the Madrigal Feaste and other performances have contributed to funding the new piano.

“We [Madrigal Singers] perform at different venues that we’re hired to perform at, and that includes the Kiwanis Club,” Juyal said. “We actually got a big check from that performance from the group [at Kiwanis Club].”

Chou said she is excited to have the opportunity to experience playing on a Steinway piano. 

“Steinway D is like the best of the best pianos in the world, debatably, and it definitely would be so fun to play on because of how good it will sound,” Chou said. “I think it will in some way maybe encourage more piano parts in our band pieces.” 

Junior Asher Wong, an oboe, English horn and percussion player in the band program, said that while donations cover a good amount of the cost, he still feels like the funds could’ve been spent elsewhere, such as fixing older instruments and funding mental health programs. 

“The Choir will probably get the most use out of it [the new piano] because they use the piano the most out of all the groups, but in general, I feel like it’s not worth the almost quarter million dollar cost that … could go to other places as well,” Wong said. 

Najar said he will go with co-director Brittney Kerby and accompanist Todd Billingsley to the New York Steinway & Sons factory over spring break to select the piano.

 The official Steinway & Son’s website, states that the typical lifespan of a Steinway piano is  approximately 50 years to 60 years before needing significant repairs and could last for up to 100 years.