Harvey Mudd Donates Piano to Musician Displaced by Eaton Fire

Harvey Mudd College has donated a Bösendorfer grand piano to a local music instructor from Altadena who lost her home and belongings in the Eaton Fire earlier this year.

Jeanina Quezada, a pianist, teacher and director of a Foothills Music Together program in the San Gabriel Valley, was among many residents who lost their homes in the January wildfire that swept through parts of Altadena and neighboring communities. Quezada’s home and personal Steinway piano were completely destroyed in the fire.

Harvey Mudd music professor Bill Alves learned of Quezada’s loss in the weeks following the fire and coordinated the donation on behalf of the college.

The Bösendorfer, a high-end Austrian piano known for its quality and craftsmanship, was originally purchased for the president’s house at Harvey Mudd, the Garrett House, during the tenure of Harvey Mudd’s first president, Joseph Platt. Platt was an avid musician as well as an accomplished physicist. With the change in purpose and plans for the Garrett House, the piano needed a new home. All available music performance and practice spaces at Harvey Mudd already had their own pianos. College officials offered the Bosendorfer to Quezada after learning of her circumstances.

“This piano–that has brought music to this campus for so many years–to have this special new home is a heartwarming thing in the midst of this great tragedy in our community,” said Alves. 

“I was absolutely amazed,” Quezada said. “My brain hadn’t even gotten to the point of figuring out how I was going to replace my piano. It was a faraway thought,” Quezada says. “There was no way I was going to be able to find a replacement piano like this without the connection of Harvey Mudd.”

Quezada, who continued teaching classes within days of the fire, credited the donation and other community support with helping her rebuild her professional life. “Being able to keep teaching gives my students – and myself – normalcy. Continuing to teach and play at a high level can be carried out through this incredible instrument,” she says.

While temporarily staying in her late mother’s home in Rosemead, Quezada resumed lessons using her childhood upright piano. Thanks to a temporary loan of a Steinway from the Steinway Gallery of Pasadena, and emergency rental assistance from the Tom Petty Estate’s Wildfire Relief Fund, she has since relocated to a rental in Pasadena, closer to her students.

Quezada said she looks forward to reconnecting with other local musicians and resuming small ensemble performances when possible. Many of her collaborators also lost instruments or were displaced in the fire.

“This gift ensures that my students and I can continue our work,” she said. “From the bottom of my heart, I am so grateful to be able to continue on. I give a massive ‘thank you’ to Harvey Mudd College.”