UT announced a campaign to become an All Steinway School in June 2011, with a goal of having the designation in place for the opening of the Natalie L. Haslam Music Center. Jim and Sandra Powell made the lead gift and led the $3.5 million campaign, in which 58 donors participated. The All Steinway School designation requires that 90 percent of the pianos of the School of Music be Steinway-designed.
With the move to the larger facility, additional pianos—as well as replacements of pianos to meet the 90 percent mark—were required. UT needed to purchase a minimum of 61 pianos, including uprights and grands ranging in size from six feet to nine feet.
In July 2013 UT announced that it had met its funding goal, faculty had chosen the pianos, and the Natalie L. Haslam Music Center would open as an All Steinway School facility.