A new partnership between Steinbuhler & Company, SMU and the DCS International Piano Competition is set to provide reduced size keyboards to participating in the Competition and Masterclass pianists at the DCS International Piano Competition 2014 held in Dallas.
The DCS International Piano Competition will become the first International Piano Competition to make pianos fitted with reduced size keyboards available to Competition and Masterclass pianists with smaller hand spans.
With the new keyboards, Competition and Masterclass participants will have the option of performing on concert grand pianos fitted with any one of the three standard keyboard sizes now recognized by the DCS International Piano Competition. In addition to the conventional keyboard these include the DS-15/16 (Universal) keyboard and the DS-7/8 keyboard, which together make up The Donison-Steinbuhler Standard – The DS StandardTM .
Reduced sized keyboards make it possible for pianists with smaller hand spans to perform repertoire that on the modern piano is quite difficult – for many impossible.
“We are so pleased to be introducing these alternative keyboards to the DCS International Piano Competition,” says Richard McKay, artistic director and conductor of the Dallas Chamber Symphony, who adds, “these new keyboards will make it possible for pianists of every hand size to realize their artistic potential.”
Throughout the history of the piano, numerous different keyboard sizes have enjoyed widespread adoption and professional use. Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin and Schumann all performed and composed on keyboards that were smaller than the present-day conventional size – a size that was settled upon arbitrarily, and without regard to ergonomics, due to the fierce pressure in the 19th century on piano manufacturers to build larger, more powerful instruments. Today it is possible to take advantage of the full sound of the modern piano while fitting them with keyboards that are ergonomically suited to every hand.
“For the past two decades we have been retrofitting pianos with smaller keyboards,” says David Steinbuhler, “providing us the opportunity to observe how hands of every size respond to a complete range of piano keyboard sizes. We have witnessed how life changing they can be. It is tremendously exciting to see our new standards being offered at a piano competition.”
For more information about keyboards made by Steinbuhler & Company, visit http://www.steibuhler.com.
