The New School Chooses Yamaha Pianos for Jazz and Contemporary Music Programs

NEW YORK, June 11, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Since its founding in 1919, The New School in Manhattan has redrawn and redefined the boundaries of intellectual and creative thought as a preeminent academic center.

In its ongoing pursuit to provide the best tools for its students, the school's highly-regarded College of Performing Arts recently purchased 14 Yamaha acoustic and "hybrid" pianos to build upon the mission of its School of Jazz and Contemporary Music program.

"We believe the Yamaha piano is the instrument of choice for performing jazz and American music," says Dr. Keller Coker, dean of the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, and Associate Dean of the College of Performing Arts. "Great recording studios traditionally lean heavily towards Yamaha, and as such, we have listened to the company's instrument for decades. Our student body is dedicated to jazz and other forms of American music, so having a school dedicated to Yamaha was a natural."

In addition to a Yamaha C5X acoustic grand piano, the school purchased 13 AvantGrand NU1 upright pianos. These remarkable hybrid instruments combine the traditional touch and feel of a real acoustic piano with digital sound meticulously sampled from one of the finest instruments that Yamaha has ever made—the CFX concert grand piano. New School students are not only inspired by a fine concert piano sound, but they can also practice confidently in the privacy of headphones, in close proximity to other students in adjacent practice rooms.

Because the NU1 is a digital instrument, the piano never needs tuning, which also was a factor in the New School's decision. "Our music rooms are in an area that is particularly susceptible to weather," Coker says. "We had good traditional instruments that were not stable, and it simply costs too much to keep them in tune."

Six of the NU1s reside in the School of Drama where they are used every day across the curriculum. For example, students in the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music can record their performances right on the instrument, and at the touch of a button, the piano plays them back, meticulously recreating every nuance intended by the original artist. These performances can be recalled any time of day by students in the School of Drama during rehearsals, even when the original performer is not available.

The New School is considered the most innovative school of its kind, offering students an artist-as-mentor approach to learning. Students are able to work one-on-one with the world's leading contemporary and jazz musicians such as JoAnne Brackeen, Reggie Workman, Hal Galper, James Francies and Jane Ira Bloom, who recently won a Grammy Award.

With a selection of 80 ensembles recast every semester, students have the opportunity to play the kind of music they want to make, with different kinds of musicians and under the direction of award-winning artists.

"There is such great energy in our building, with a culture of small groups playing that extends until 2 a.m. when the building closes," Coker says. "The piano is the centerpiece of ensemble work—almost every one of them has some sort of rhythm section. We want to make sure the systems at the school are centered on the best student experience and having enough of the right type of instrument, particularly the Yamaha pianos, is vital for this to happen."

Looking forward, Coker sees the school as continuing to grow both in numbers and vision toward "creating an environment where young artists truly have opportunity to realize who they are going to be and what they want to create in a sustainable and creative musical life as a good artist citizen. Our goal is to create that here and scale it up to give the greatest number of musicians the opportunity to accomplish that."

For more information about The New School College of Performing Arts, visit
https://www.newschool.edu/performing-arts/    

About The New School
Founded in 1919, The New School was born out of principles of academic freedom, tolerance, and experimentation. Committed to social engagement, The New School today remains in the vanguard of innovation in higher education, with more than 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students challenging the status quo in design and the social sciences, liberal arts, management, the arts, and media. The New School welcomes thousands of adult learners annually for continuing education courses and a calendar of lectures, screenings, readings, and concerts. Through its online learning portals, research institutes, and international partnerships, The New School maintains a global presence. Learn more at http://www.newschool.edu.

About Yamaha
Yamaha Corporation of America (YCA) is one of the largest subsidiaries of Yamaha Corporation, Japan and offers a full line of award-winning musical instruments, sound reinforcement, commercial installation and home entertainment products to the U.S. market. Products include: Yamaha acoustic, digital and hybrid pianos, portable keyboards, guitars, acoustic and electronic drums, band and orchestral instruments, marching percussion products, synthesizers, professional digital and analog audio equipment, Steinberg recording products and NEXO commercial audio products, as well as AV receivers, amplifiers, MusicCast wireless multiroom audio systems, Blu-ray/CD players, earphones, headphones, home-theater-in-a-box systems, sound bars and its exclusive line of Digital Sound Projectors. YCA markets innovative, finely crafted technology and entertainment products and musical instruments targeted to the hobbyist, education, worship, music, professional audio installation and consumer markets.

SOURCE The New School