The grandaddy of 'em all: BCLUW music department purchases 1968 Baldwin concert grand piano

For as long as BCLUW band director David Bartling has been with the district, he’s had one big wish: to purchase a grand piano and show his students the difference it makes. But the massive, cumbersome instruments don’t come cheap, so it took a fair amount of legwork on his part.
           
Fourteen years after he first envisioned it, the dream is finally becoming a reality. Through a combination of private fundraising, district funding and a $6,000 grant from the Grundy County Community Foundation, BCLUW has a seven-foot Baldwin SD-10 concert grand piano and the money to keep it running for years to come.
           
After suggesting a local letter writing campaign, Bartling offered to put the issue to rest if the public wasn’t interested in supporting the project. Within a few months, the music department had raised $9,000—enough for the initial purchase, and the piano arrived in Conrad in December.
           
As a lifelong music obsessive, Bartling is aware that the average person may not understand the difference between an electric keyboard and a grand piano, but he’s here to explain it.
           
“Every string has all of the notes in it, and all of a sudden you have this deeper, richer harmonic pool that you’re pulling from. There’s resonance, there’s a deeper sound. It’s a better sound,” he said. 
 
For the full story, see this week's Grundy Register. Subscribe by calling (319) 824-6958 or clicking here.