In late September, I had the extraordinary opportunity to attend the William Steinway University Orientation at the Steinway & Sons headquarters in New York. After joining your West Music Piano Team this past July, I was informed that I would eventually be making this trip, so I could be welcomed into the Steinway & Sons family! The trip was incredibly inspiring, and the memories will certainly last a lifetime.

I was one of eleven piano salespersons from around the country to attend this orientation. The orientation was lead by Mr. Jim Hoover, Director of Sales Training and Promotions for Steinway & Sons. After an enthusiastic welcome to the Steinway headquarters, Mr. Hoover presented a DVD to us called “Songs from Steinways.” This DVD showcased some of the most well-known songs in American history which were written using Steinway & Sons pianos, including “God Bless America” by Irving Berlin, “Goodnight My Angel” by Billy Joel, “Imagine” by John Lennon, and “Rhapsody in Blue” by George Gershwin.

Throughout the orientation, we were able to travel all over the New York City suburbs to key locations affiliated with the Steinway family history. It was our second day of the orientation when we traveled to downtown Manhattan to see the infamous Steinway Hall of New York City. Words cannot describe how amazed I was after seeing all of the pianos! There were Steinway grand and upright pianos of all sizes, Boston and Essex pianos, and even some Roland digitals! My personal favorite room was the “D & B” room, which housed the Steinway 9’ and 7’ grand pianos. As we continued our tour, we viewed portraits of famous pianists on the Steinway “Immortal Artists” roster including Vladimir Horowitz, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Arthur Rubinstein. Last but not least, we were able to look at (and touch) one of the most treasured relics in Steinway Hall, Heinrich E. Steinway’s work desk. Heinrich founded Steinway and Sons on March 5, 1853 in New York a few years after he and his family emigrated from Germany to the United States. It was on this very desk that Heinrich built his very first piano!

The biggest highlight of the orientation was on the last day – the tour of the Steinway & Sons factory. For nearly three and a half hours, we watched pianos being built in nearly every room of the factory – from rim-bending to tuning. We began the tour by witnessing the rim-bending of a Steinway & Sons model A grand piano (6’2”). The workers who bend the piano rims affectionately call their room the “maternity ward.” We watched the workers apply glue to 15 laminations of Hard Rock Maple to construct the rim and insert it into the rim press. Afterwards, we watched the construction of piano soundboards, ribs, and cabinetry. The “action” room was extremely fascinating – this room housed workers who constructed the pianos’ action, which include the keys and hammers. The hammers go through an inspection process, and rejected hammers are simply thrown out. However, yours truly was able to keep a souvenir rejected hammer! Towards the end of the tour, we were able to see a unique aspect of the Steinway piano’s completion – the pianos are tuned aurally throughout the entire process. This means that there are no machines used within the factory to tune the piano! All of the tuners are specially trained, and they firmly believe that aural tuning gives the Steinway piano more personality.

I could easily write a novel about how much I enjoyed my tour, but I simply wanted to share some of the highlights with all of you! I want to personally thank the fantastic staff at West Music who assisted me with preparing for my trip: Robin Walenta, Kirk Davis, Shellie Gingerich, Cathi Dorr, and Brandon Sparks. Lastly, I want to send a big thank you to Mr. Jim Hoover for an awe-inspiring experience at the Steinway headquarters! I am very proud to be a member of your West Music Piano Team and a representative for Steinway & Sons. If you would like any information regarding these amazing instruments, I’d be more than happy to talk with you. Thanks again for reading my post!