About The Foundation
The DS Standard Foundation, Inc. was established as a non-profit corporation in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, USA in 2018 and has been awarded 501(c)(3) status.
Mission
To set a standard for alternatively sized keyboards that is recognized globally, so that pianists, whether amateurs or professionals, may achieve their full musical potential while avoiding injury and perform with confidence anywhere in the world, knowing that a keyboard bearing the DS® logo will be the size with which they are familiar.
“Having the opportunity to perform and teach on DS keyboards for the last 20 years has been an incredible gift! To fearlessly approach any significant work in the repertoire, knowing that it is within your grasp and that you needn’t fear injury has been a dream come true for me and for my students with smaller hand spans.”
“That this previously unimaginable breakthrough hasn’t been fully embraced yet is inconceivable to me, but I hope that in the culture of the 2020’s, inflexible tradition will give way to reason. When one considers that 87% of adult females, 24% of adult males, and 100% of young children are musically and technically limited by a keyboard size that is too large for them, and that injuries continue at a wholly unacceptable rate, the only logical solution is to offer alternative standards! I’m very grateful to the DS Standard Foundation for leading this initiative globally.”
Dr. Carol Leone, Chair of Piano Studies, Professor of Piano
SMU Meadows School of the Arts, Dallas, Texas
http://www.carolleone.com
Our Purposes
To encourage the availability and use of alternatively sized keyboards using the DS Standard®
To raise awareness of the possibilities for accomplishment that the various DS Standard® size keyboards offer
To assist educational institutions in the acquisition of DS Keyboards
To encourage research related to the use of alternatively sized keyboards
“I cannot begin to describe the career-changing, and even life-changing, benefits our students have reaped from having these instruments to practice on daily. Their first response though was, “Why did it take so long? Why did we have to suffer so unnecessarily?”
“Playing-related injury in the piano world is persistently and tragically prevalent, consensus among researchers is that female pianists are twice as likely to develop an injury, and smaller hands are implicated.”
“Since the NASM now requires some form of education in injury-prevention and musculoskeletal health, it seems almost imperative that accredited music departments in the US acquire such keyboards. Addressing this glaring inequity is long overdue.”
Barbara Lister-Sink, Ed.D., Salem College School of Music, Director, Graduate Music Program
Producer of DVD Freeing the Caged Bird – Developing Well-Coordinated, Injury-Preventive Piano Technique©
The Foundation’s Board of Directors
David Steinbuhler, President
Using his expertise in computer science and engineering, David has over the past three decades developed and perfected the ability to easily retrofit acoustic pianos with the highest quality alternatively sized keyboards. Supported by academic research, he has established keyboard sizes that comfortably accommodate virtually every hand. In May of 2018 David converted his manufacturing business, Steinbuhler & Company, into the non-profit DS Standard Foundation which continues to offer alternatively sized keyboards for sale to pianists around the world.
Dr Barry Cressman, Secretary
A native of New York and an alumnus of William and Mary, the University of St. Andrews, and Princeton, Barry has devoted his entire career to building non-profit corporations and philanthropy.
Alex Steinbuhler, Treasurer
Grandson of the Foundation’s founder, Alex has a strong commitment to carrying on the Foundation’s manufacturing operations. Since 2016 Alex has worked building our piano actions and acquired high level skills in all aspects in their manufacturer. Since 2019 he has also maintained the Foundation’s operational books.
Dr Carol Leone
Chair of Piano Studies and Professor of Piano at Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts in Dallas, Texas, Carol has taught and performed throughout the USA, Europe, and Asia, winning both prizes and acclaim in such venues as the National Beethoven Sonata Competition, the Missouri Southern International Piano Competition, and the International Masters Competition. Her professional training included study at the renowned Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where she was a student of the Polish pianist Mieczysław Horszowski. She was also a student of Guido Agosti in Rome and holds the prestigious Honors Diploma from the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Italy. Considered today’s leading performer, teacher, and researcher on alternatively sized piano keyboards for the benefit of pianists with smaller hand spans, Carol has been published in journals such as American Music Teacher, Piano Professional, and Clavier Companion. Southern Methodist University was the first institution of higher learning to provide alternatively sized keyboards for students who wish to use them (www.carolleone.com/ergonomic-keyboards). With easy access to pianos with DS keyboards for study, performing, and teaching, Carol is grateful to be one of the most advantaged small-handed pianists in the world. Please visit her YouTube channel and see her perform on pianos that are ergonomically suited to her hands.
Rhonda Boyle
An eager student of the piano since her childhood in Melbourne, Australia, and an environmental scientist with expertise in urban planning, in 2009 Rhonda was the first pianist in Australia to own and play a DS5.5® Keyboard. Her extensive research relating to hand size and the piano has resulted in invitations to speak at piano conferences in Australia, Europe, and the USA. With articles published in such periodicals as the Music Teachers National Association e-Journal (USA) and the European Piano Teachers Association (UK) journal Piano Professional. Rhonda co-founded the global network PASK (Pianists for Alternatively Sized Keyboards) with Erica Booker (Sydney) and Professor Carol Leone (SMU, Texas). The website www.paskpiano.org includes information on research, activities and developments relevant to alternatively sized piano keyboards.
Acknowledgements
The sources of the images and other media used on this website can be found here: Acknowledgements.
