College kids vandalise a Steinway

College kids vandalise a Steinway

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norman lebrecht

December 07, 2015

You see what we mean?

This happened last week in All Faiths Chapel at the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, Kansas State University.

Respect? No respect.

steinway overturned
Photo Theresa Breymeyer

Comments

  • Furzwängler says:

    At least it wasn’t a Bösendorfer

  • Herbert says:

    The idiocy of American university “students” can often be astonishing, as I personally witnessed as an exchange student there in the 90’s. They very often behave more like children in preschool nursery or kindergarten, rathe than as adults seeking a higher education. It is a sad and sorry reflection of their country’s general lack of respect for culture, arts and anything that speaks to the soul, rather than to the wallet or various forms of aggression and violence.

  • Robert Fitzpatrick says:

    According to the Steinway website; a Model 274 (concert grand model D) weighs 500 kilos or just over 1100 lbs. As an act of vandalism, it would take several people to accomplish the deed. There is another possibility which is always a concern with these instruments. Did someone try to move it and it slipped off the edge of the stage; and while trying save the piano, it wound up in this position. The greatest weight is toward the keyboard side of the instrument.

    Perhaps it was vandalism, perhaps an accident, in any case, I believe the instrument will survive. Sad to see the results.

  • Dominic Stafford Uglow says:

    More importantly, is this being treated as a terrorist incident?!

    • Erwin Poelstra says:

      The anti-music Imam strikes again?

    • Holger H. says:

      The FBI uses this classification table, depending on the religion of the perpetrator:

      Muslim: Terrorism
      Christian: Vandalism
      Jewish: Self defense
      Buddhist: Sexual violence or child sexual abuse (depending on the age of the person reincarnated as a piano)
      Atheist: Un-American activities

      • Patrick says:

        Funny, thanks!

      • John Borstlap says:

        Hilarious…

        Also:

        Confucianism: ‘Confucius say: vandalism’.

        Church of Mormon: ‘Let me in your house and I will tell you what happened to the piano’.

        Judaism: ‘Why is it always OUR pianos that get vandalised?’

    • Greg Hlatky says:

      Maybe you should ask yourself, “Why do they hate us?” I fear a backlash against K-State students.

  • May says:

    This was probably a prank, as the piano didn’t roll off the stage, otherwise it would have broken a leg. It’s not inconceivable that 6 men could flip a B-Steinway onto its lid. I don’t think the pianist suffered any damage.

  • Eddie Mars says:

    Pathetic.

  • Holger H. says:

    “All Faiths” chapel. So clearly a preparation for a service by the Church of Antichrist, symbolizing the reversal of the directions of hell and heaven.

  • Erwin Poelstra says:

    So, it happened “sometime between Thursday night and Friday morning”…maybe they should check if there wasn’t a late night concert with experimental avant-garde “music”?
    Like this one (vandalizing instruments as Art):
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E99s36BJSUM

    • John Borstlap says:

      That video is from a Darmstadt Summer Course, the famous centre of avantgarde music from WW II onwards – continuing the violence with other means and in the end, returning to its origins.

      At Darmstadt, violins are, in general, a welcome target, because of symbolizing ‘classical music’:

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3kpvIXG1Qc

      So, yes, probably the piano incident was mere avantgarde music.

  • william osborne says:

    As an antidote, the piano as an extension of the soul:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz1ZNZwcSG4

  • Michael Endres says:

    The above act of vandalism is quite tame compared to some cutting edge composition by a current teacher from the Hochschule fuer Musik in Hamburg.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwlCD2y2tBA

  • Sally Phillips says:

    Let’s not jump to conclusions. This could easily be just an accident. How you ask? The center of gravity is such that if the leg on the treble end rolled off because the casters were not locked down, the leg could have dropped off the stage and the lyre could have served as a pivot point.

    • May says:

      You’re right about the lyre being strong enough to support the piano. But doesn’t it seem suspicious that the piano is perpendicular to the stage?

      • Sally Phillips says:

        Actually if when they roll they always roll at an angle. If you look at the position and picture it rolling back you can easily see that the treble leg departed the stage first. Because of the curve in the stage the bass and back leg were still on the stage as it dropped. The caster of the treble leg rolling unlocked actually prevented the leg from breaking. Those Steinways are tough!

  • Ravi Narasimhan says:

    I’m thinking class project for Intermediate Baggage Handling 154.

  • Robert says:

    They know who did it? How do they know it a was a student?

    • Scott Fields says:

      They don’t know:

      Teri Breymeyer, administrative assistant for the school, said there is no known motive at this time.

      “We don’t know if it’s a prank,” Breymeyer said.

  • Galen Johnson says:

    None of the local news reports implicate “college kids.”

  • Holger H. says:

    I wonder why nobody has named harpsichordists as the primary suspects yet.

  • Max Grimm says:

    It seems as though pianos are in growing danger at American universities…..in Kansas pianos go topsy-turvy and in Massachusetts they go flying off of rooftops.

  • Aslanis says:

    Once they find the vandals, the cost of repairs PLUS treble damages should be added to their tuitions. A’holes!

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