Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts was able to put its latest piano instruments to provide and receive masterclasses at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This was made possible through Roosevelt’s recent purchase of several new instruments, including the revolutionary Yamaha Disklavier DCFX concert grand piano. The Disklavier pianos are “built with optic sensors that record when a piano key or foot pedal is pressed and how fast they are moving up and down.” This technology allows for a pianist to play at Roosevelt and be heard on any Disklavier around the world in real time. In total, two Roosevelt professors and two UIUC professors provided masterclasses to two Roosevelt students and two UIUC students.
Dr. Winston Choi and Michal Drewnowski represented Roosevelt and shared their expertise with the UIUC piano students. One of the UIUC professors, Rochelle Sennet, was exciting to be on the receiving end of the Disklavier technology, stating, “I can hear exactly what’s coming out of the instrument. It provides more information than the audio recording because I can see it.” Roosevelt’s acquisition of the Disklavier is one of the many recent investments in the university’s pianos and instruments. The recently announced Piano Improvement Project launched with $375,000 in donor gifts, with the goal of investing more than $750,000 in new pianos over the next academic year. This investment will provide not only state-of-the-art instruments for Chicago College of Performing Arts students, but as this recent event shows, even more opportunities for Roosevelt faculty and students to share their proficiency with the world.