Have you heard the music coming out of the pratice rooms in Talbot Hall? The crisp sounds are coming from the five new Yamaha pianos that the music department, with funding from the University, recently purchased from Hofman Music. The department received four upright pianos, which are practice room and studio pianos, and have ordered a full size nine-foot concert grand that will be coming in sometime in the next couple of weeks, Gregory Torres, head of performing arts, said.

These pianos were needed desperately to replace the existing ones that were difficult to work with, he said.

“The concert grand is going to be on the stage, and will be used in performances, by our majors and for choir concerts.

“Both music majors and faculty will have access to the other four new pianos,” he said.

The pianos that were used before constantly needed re-tuning, and they were not holding their pitch. The students needed instruments of higher quality to practice and work on, he said.

“The pitch will be better, they are going to sound better and they are going to feel better.

“With concern for the mechanics of the instrument, students will realize there is more flexibility with the keys and a certain ease about playing. Before, they were fighting the mechanics of the old instrument,” he said.

These new pianos will be located in several places.

The grand piano, weighing about a ton, will be on the stage of the studio. The uprights, weighing about 1,000 pounds each, will be in the faculty studios where students have their lessons, in the music majors practice room and in a classroom where students have theory class, he said.

“The department had a need, and we went to Dr. Pecoraro (vice president of academic affairs) with that need. The first response, because it is such a great expense, was how we could raise money for the new pianos.

“But, through Dr. Pecoraro’s endeavors, she was able to budget for the purchase of the new pianos,” Torres said.

With the arrival of these new pianos also came the excitement of pleased faculty members.

“We were in need for new pianos for so long, because they were all so old,” Donna Sammarco, instructor of performing arts, said.

“Even our best one for the piano majors was over thirty years old,” Dr. Carol Britt, instructor of performing arts, said.

“It is absolutely wonderful. It is overdue but we are overjoyed to have them now.

“It will definitely benefit the students. I think they are doing more than just practicing back there,” Sammarco said.

“We are thrilled, and we can’t wait for the concert grand,” Britt said.

Not only do the faculty show their excitement, but students are excited as well.

“Even though I play the tuba, these new pianos help me to prepare for piano tests,” Drew Roger, 19, music education sophomore, from Thibodaux, said.

“I love the new pianos. They are great. The older ones had a harder, rougher feel, and these new ones make it better to practice.

“I think it was a good investment, and that it will be beneficial to many people, especially piano majors,” Melissa Forbes, 18, from Port Sulphur, said.