While in NYC, I had the opportunity to tour the Steinway Factory. The tour was 2 hours long and what an experience it was! After seeing how much work, detail and love goes into these piano’s, you walk away wishing you had a Steinway if you hadn’t already.
One thing that really impressed me is that it was very clear that if you worked for Steinway, you were part of the Steinway family. Many of the employees there had worked their for years, generations of families have worked there.
Quoted from the Steinway website: “Steinway & Sons was founded in 1853 by German immigrant Henry Engelhard Steinway in a Manhattan loft on Varick Street. Over the next thirty years, Henry and his sons, C. F. Theodore, Charles, Henry Jr., William, and Albert, developed the modern piano. They built their pianos one at a time, applying skills that were handed down from master to apprentice, generation after generation.
Each Steinway grand piano, for example, takes nearly a year to create. Nothing is hurried.
Today, we still build our pianos that way. Each Steinway grand piano, for example, takes nearly a year to create. Nothing is hurried. Even the carefully selected woods employed in the rims, tops, soundboards, and actions cure for months in our yard, kilns and conditioning rooms, until they stabilize at a rigidly specified moisture content.
Steinway is dedicated to the ideal of making the finest pianos in the world. The result is instruments renowned for their unsurpassed quality. Pianos with such superior sound and responsive touch that they enchant the most demanding pianists. And we are preferred overwhelmingly by people who share the joy of playing and owning the finest musical instrument — a joy which can be yours when you bring a Steinway into your life.”
Have you ever wondered how you can become a Steinway artist? You apply! Contrary to popular belief, Steinway artists are not paid. Steinway artist want to become such for the love of their instrument.
I took tons of pictures and wanted to share them with you. Enjoy!
Wow, Jennifer, great pictures! Thanks for sharing. I felt like I was there.
Wow, you got wonderful pictures! Thanks for putting them up!
Thanks for posting. Very interesting to see the process.
Yes! Thanks for posting! Amazing pictures!
Great Job! You have captured steps/views/ shots in the process that were not present in the documentary “Note by Note: The Making of Steinway L1037 “. 🙂 What Fun!! The pictures are beautiful. That tour was 2 hours well spent, thanks for sharing the pic.s
Glad you enjoyed them!