May the 4th, considered Star Wars Day by legions of fans (“May the Fourth be with you”), is a fitting date to debut the Ethan Squires Steinway concert grand piano. Squires was a devoted Star Wars fan, and the repertoire for the evening’s concert was chosen to honor and celebrate Squires, his love of Star Wars, and the new instrument purchased in his memory.
A talented mechanical engineering student and a gifted pianist and trombone player, Squires passed away suddenly from a medical event in April 2024. At the time, he was completing his manufacturing engineering co-op and preparing his piano audition for the UW-Platteville music program’s concerto competition.
“Ethan was so kind, warm, helpful, and caring,” remembers Dr. Danny Rowland, associate professor of low brass. “Everyone he encountered left smiling, happier, and better off than when they started.”
“He gave so much to our community,” explains Dr. Kaju Lee, associate professor of piano. “In studio class, he offered warm, thoughtful feedback to his peers. As an advanced pianist, he helped make our space kind, supportive, and encouraging for everyone.”
In the year following his death, the Ethan Squires Fund made an extraordinary commitment in his memory: a matching gift to the UW-Platteville Foundation & Alumni Association for the purchase of a Steinway Model D concert grand piano. With support from the UW-Platteville community and over 130 donors, the piano was secured and will impact generations of student musicians on campus.
The May the 4th concert will feature performances of some of Squires’ favorite works, including the theme from the film “Interstellar” and selections from “Star Wars” by composer John Williams. The UW-Platteville Low Brass Ensemble and the UW-Platteville Orchestra are also on the bill.
Three of Squires’ UW-Platteville peers will be featured on the program. Elliott Loughney, Gunnar Olson, and Christopher Andraski all studied piano with Squires in Lee’s piano studio. Other featured soloists include Lee, Rowland and Martha Veto, Ethan’s childhood piano teacher. Lee and Veto will perform excerpts from “Khachaturian’s Piano Concerto in D flat Major” together onstage in a special tribute. Veto played this piece with Ethan when he was in high school; it is the same concerto he was rehearsing at the time of his death.
Like their friend, Loughney and Olson are engineers who found a home in Platteville’s music program. “Ethan’s story is a familiar one at Platteville,” says Dr. Travis Nelson, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Education. “Our arts programs welcome students from all majors, and we find that engineering students are among our most talented, committed, and active musicians. During our campaign to bring this piano to campus, we frequently heard from alumni who said ‘I was just like Ethan, I was an engineer who found a second home in music.’”
About the Piano Selection
In addition to celebrating Squires, the concert is designed to showcase the new Steinway Model D concert grand piano, selected especially for the Brodbeck Concert Hall. Considered the pinnacle of concert grand pianos, the Steinway Model D is handcrafted in the company’s New York factory. The Squires family traveled with Lee, Veto, and UW-Platteville music instructor Heather Huckleberry to choose the piano from the Steinway factory in Queens earlier this year.
Following a tour of the Steinway factory, the group was led to a piano selection room where five potential pianos were prepared for their review. “All of the pianos were different,” said French Forbes, the Steinway representative who worked with the university to steward the purchase. “Knowing the space this piano was going into, I worked with the chief concert technician to select pianos geared to the acoustics of the room. This piano will be at UW-Platteville for a long, long time. We want it to be ‘the one.’”
Lee spent some time with the pianos to get an idea of each instrument, then played them for Veto, Huckleberry, and Ethan’s family. “I was looking for a singing tone, a wide range of colors, and a responsive action and touch with a clear and balanced sound across all registers,” explained Lee. “I kept coming back to this piano each time I played it.”
“All of the pianos were beautiful, each a genuine work of art,” offered Jeff Squires, Ethan’s father. “While we don’t believe we could have made a wrong choice, the piano we chose can only be described as breathtaking. It is one of the most beautiful instruments you will ever see. You can sense the level of care and dedication of the artisans who built it.”
“This instrument is more than a piano,” continued Lee. “It’s a tribute to Ethan’s memory. Every time a student plays it, I hope they feel a little of Ethan—his kindness, his joy, and his deep love for music.”
The May the 4th Squires Piano Debut Concert begins at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, May 4th at the Brodbeck Concert Hall in the UW-Platteville Center for the Arts. The concert is free and open to the public.
To read more about Ethan Squires and his impact on UW-Platteville, visit https://foundation.uwplatt.edu/g/ethan-squires-memorial-steinway-piano-campaign.