Almost from the first arrival in New York of the Steinway family, in 1850, the name has been famous in the history of the American piano. The single aim of the founder was to produce an ideal instrument, and with what grand and satisfactory results, the career of the house which he founded attests. The Steinway piano is distinctly and indisputably artistic in its sphere. Its development is a fascinating story and lends honor and credit to its makers as well as to the art of piano-making. "Steinway" pianos are made in all styles and for all climes and all lands; uprights, grand's and concert grand's. There is no need to season a piano for destination.
The first Steinway piano was made by Henry Engelhard Steinway, with his own hands. Its construction occupied a whole year. When Theodore Steinway, for whom this famous piano was built, was fourteen years old, the business of manufacture was so well perfected that the Steinway piano took the premium at the Brunswick Fair.
The Steinway over strung pianos were next exhibited at the American Institute, held in the New York Crystal Palace, in 1855, and took all prizes. The London Exposition followed in 1862, and the Paris Exposition in 1867, at which the Steinway pianos received the first prize medal and the grand gold medal, respectively. The piano received at least thirty-five premiums at the principal fairs in the United States between the years 1855 and 1862, since which time the house has been an exhibitor at international expositions only. The "Steinway" has been used by the most eminent artists of both hemispheres and is as well known in art circles of the Old World as it is in the New.
There has been no change in the Steinway goal. Perfection is still the aim and the result, skilled craftsmanship is still the means loyalty and pride have simply been spilled over from family worker to factory worker. Where mass production logically stresses speed, economy, and replaceable parts, the Steinways still stress beauty, quality, and durability.
The Steinway piano is too well known to require any great endorsement here. In every consumer publication, in every era for over one hundred and fifty years, Steinway is the standard of comparison the world over. Any statement contrary to that fact is simply competitors defeat and is not worthy of comment here.
The Steinway Artists
Today, more than 90 percent of the world's active concert pianists — over 1,300 artists — bear the title "Steinway Artist". Each owns a Steinway. All choose to perform on Steinway pianos exclusively. Importantly, none are paid to do so; their only inducement is the unrivaled sound and responsiveness of their Steinway pianos.
Choice of Music Educators
Many of these artist received their essential musical training on Steinway pianos, for Steinway pianos are also the instrument of choice at the world's most prestigious music schools — a large number of Steinways are currently in use, for example, at Juilliard, Oberlin College, Yale University, The Curtis Institute of Music, Carnegie Mellon University, Hochschule fur Musik und darstellende Kunst Stuttgart/Germany, Hochschule fur Musik Cologne/Germany, Conservatorio S. Pietro a Majella, Napoli/Italy, Conservatoire de Lausanne, Lausanne/Switzerland, Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris/France, Conservatoire National de Region, Toulouse/France, Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester/U.K., Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow/U.K., Tokyo University of Music & Fine Arts, Geidai/Japan, and Toho Music University, Tokyo/Japan.
In some institutions, Steinway is the only piano used in concert halls and practice rooms.
For good reasons. The unsurpassed sound and response, which so enchant concert pianists, also permit longer practice with less fatigue and allow students unbridled freedom of musical expression. The Steinway pianos are both superb musical instruments and durable enough to sustain years of intensive use with grace.
For almost 150 years Steinway has set the world standard for piano quality. And, Steinway & Sons is as dedicated as ever to bringing that standard to life through a careful combination of steady innovation and skilled craftsmen working with the finest materials.
