VA^^ 2f17 .3 - La Guardia And Wagner Archives

TO Frank Mazurco
Thanks for the clipping from Trombino about
the C grand 91 630 at the Homestead Library.
When they say it is inscribed to the King of
Prussia , this sounds to me more like an old Soundboard decal
with all our old "Royal Appointments" in a big decal.
This number seems to me likely to have been
shipped around 1899, and the short entry in the article saying
H.C.Frick gave them a Steinway in 1899 seems to me to cut out
any King of Prussia.
There is also the fact that the King of Prussia
was at that time the Emperor ( Kaiser) of Germany ever since the
Franco - Prussian war in 1872.
Will send a copy of this to Trombino.
Yours
VA^^
2f17 .3
109 ! 'EEST 57tfi STREET
NEWYORK, N.Y. 10019
James M. Stark
6408 Kentucky Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15206
412-363-0462
E-mail : starkj2 c aol.com
April 24, 2002
Henry Z. Steinway
Steinway & Sons
1 Steinway Place
Long Island City, NY 11105
Dear Mr. Steinway:
I am a member of the board of The Steinway Society of Western Pennsylvania , and in chatting with Larry
Kriner of Trombino Piano Galleries, he suggested that you might be the man to help me.
I am doing research on the organ builder Philipp Wirsching (1858-1926 ) who built some residence organs
for the Art Organ Company of New York between 1905 and 1909. That company was established by
George Ashdown Audsley and Joseph Burr Tiffany, who was Artistic Director of Steinway & Sons at that
time. The organs were sold through Steinway , and, in fact, two demonstration organs were built for
Steinway Hall in 1905 and 1906.
I have been trying to locate the original placement of these organs . Steinway & Sons being the kind of
company it is, I thought there might still be some records hidden in the archives somewhere.
I am aware of the following, which may be of interest to you:
Eugene Clark residence, Yonkers, NY, 1905
Edson Bradley residence, Washington, DC, 1908
Gov. Franklin Murphy residence, Newark, NJ, 1908
Edgar Mills residence, New York, NY, 1909
Seymour Hyde residence, Greenwich, CT, undated
Also, I suspect that an organ was built for the residence of Emerson Clark in Putnam Valley, NY, but I
have been unable to confirm this. In addition, Wirsching built organs for A. K. Mansfield, Salem, OH,
and the Palace of the Maharaja of Mysore , India (extant), but these may not have been Art Organ
Company organs.
Any information you might have would be gratefully received . There is another gentleman , David H. Fox
who is working on a biography of Audsley, who would also be interested , or who may have already
approached you. I have shared information with David , but have gotten little back . In any event, the
information will either end up in print , or be deposited with the Organ Historical Society Archives in
Princeton where other researchers can have access.
Thank you for your help.
Yours very truly,
HENRY Z. STEINWAY
109 WEST 57th STREET
NEW YORK, N.Y. 10019
James M. Stark
6408 Kentucky Ave
Pittsburgh, PA15206
Dear Mr. Stark I am fascinated by your letter, but totally
without any information.
There are no surviving records of organs
being sold at Steinway Hall, at that time located at 109
East 14th street. There was an attempt at an uptown
branch in the years 1901 to 1904. It was in the Windsor Arcade
on 46th street and fifth ave, and was filled with our fancy
pianos from Tiffany's art case Dept. I guess too early for the
organs you mention.
I am not familiar with the Art Organ co. And
what I have on Joseph Burr Tiffany is pretty slight. I know he
was born in 1856, came with Steinway & Sons in 1897 to create
our Art Case piano Dept. He left us in 1913, amicably I think.
And he died in 1917. No mention in the obit I have of Art Organ
co.
What few reference books I ha•,7e here are all
about pianos.
Very best wishes on your research.
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TO Ray Rotuna
FROM Henry Steinway
About Pittburgh - as you suggested I am
booked on U.S.Air #883 to arrive 1:34 on December 4.
And back the next day on #1902
leaving at
11:40 AM.
I have the confirmation for the Doubletree
downtown.
61001 A'0 80AMJN
13381S 11LS 1S3M 601
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iron/6edeslof
Edward Kocher, Dean
Mary Pappert School of Music
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Education for the Mind, the Heart, and the Soul
Mercedes-Benz
John Sisson Motors
470 Washington Road
Washington, PA 15301
Telephone 1-888-SISSON 1
Telephone (724) 206-6000
Telefax (724) 206-6020
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Trombino Piano Gallerie
942 Penn Avenue
Downtown
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
412.765.0600
4&Ei u&Ta3 _Li 4:v%s.ieaLES
2002 - 2003 Schedule
After an enjoyable and successful first season , the lunchtime concert series
returns for the 2002-2003 season with some of the finest artists in
Pittsburgh performing many varying styles of music.
Each recital is on the second Thursday of the month, begins at 12:10 pm, is
approximately one-half-hour in length and is free to the public.
Due to seating limitations , your call before each concert
will be deeply appreciated.
Please R.S.V.P. to 412 . 765.0600.
September 12 Stephen Toney, Piano
F Schubert, L. van Beethoven
October 10
November 14
Eugene Alcalay, Piano
& Kia-Hui Tan, Violin
C. Franck
Henry Spinelli, Piano
W A. Mozart, J. Brahms,
A. Beach, R. Schumann, M Ravel
December 12
Bobby & Harry Cardillo
Steinway Artists
To be Announced
January 9
Paul Sisco, Piano
F Schubert
February 13
Lori Gilbert, Piano
S. Rachmaninoff, M Ravel,
F Chopin
March 13
Linda Ellison, Piano
L. van Beethoven, S. Prokofiev,
C. Debussy
April 10
Sing Tsai, Piano
W A. Mozart, F Chopin,
S. Prokofiev
May 8
Bradey Jeanne Walter, Piano
To be Announced
cELnwaj L.I^fJLa t - 4=7
/.ikal.ES.
Z 2002 - 2003 Schedule
Stephen Toney
An accomplished pianist, concert organist, and choral conductor. He
studied at the Juilliard School of Music with the Russian trained
pianist Oxana Yablanskya. Mr. Toney currently serves as the liturgical music director of Mother of Sorrows Parish in Murrysville,
Pennsylvania.
Eugene Alcalay
The legendary Leonard Bernstein brought him to America from Tel
Aviv, Israel, personally sponsoring his education. Mr. Alcalay
earned a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Piano from The Juilliard
School under Seymour Lipkin. He has also studied piano with James
Tocco, Karen Shaw, Edward Auer, Dimitri Paperno, Robert
McDonald and Claude Frank. Mr. Alcalay currently teaches as a
professor of piano studies at Geneva College.
Kia-Hui Tan
Born in Singapore, China, she did undergraduate study with David
Takeno at the Guildhall School of Music in London and graduate
study at The Cleveland Institute of Music. She is on the faculty of the
Music Department at Cornell University. She has performed as a
concerto soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician on five continents.
Henry Spinelli
Professor Emeritus of Music at Chatham College. While at Chatham,
Professor Spinelli was twice awarded the Buhl professorship for
excellence in the humanities. As a pianist, Spinelli has performed
extensively throughout the United States, in Canada, and the
Caribbean. Henry Spinelli has also been heard nationwide on the
National Public Radio Network, and in Pittsburgh, many of his
recorded performances have been broadcast on WQED-FM.
Bobby and Harry Cardillo
Are two distinctly different pianists, joined by genes and by a passion
for jazz-father Bobby, the impeccable stylist, in the Teddy Wilson/
George Shearing tradition and son Harry, a restless adventurer,
inspired by Bill Evans and Herbie Hancock.
Paul Sisco
Pittsburgh-born pianist Paul Sisco received his first musical
instruction at the age of five from his father, a church organist and
his uncle, a jazz clarinetist. He has been featured with the
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Ballet Orchestra, the
Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Concert
Society. He currently teaches at Chatham College.
Lori Gilbert
While working outside of the music field, Lori Gilbert has continued
private piano studies with Harry Coleman for over twenty years.
Lori has performed in local recitals over the last two decades and
was a competitor in the 2002 Van Cliburn International Piano
Competition for Outstanding Amateurs in Fort Worth, Texas.
Linda Ellison
She has performed solo and chamber music recitals throughout the
United States, and has served on the faculties of Brown University,
Carnegie Mellon University, Hamilton College, and Rhode Island
College. Ms. Morgan-Ellison has recorded for WQED-FM and has
been a featured artist on their program, "Performance in Pittsburgh."
Sing Tsai
A fourth-year medical student at the University of Pittsburgh School
of Medicine who began piano lessons at age seven. She has studied
with Dr. Paul Wirth at the Central Minnesota Music School and Ms.
Olga Radosavljevich at the Cleveland Institute of Music.
She received the Joseph Collins Foundation scholarship, an award
given to medical students in the arts.
Bradey Jeanne Walter
This will be 7 year old Bradey Jeanne Walter's debut solo recital.
She began piano lessons at the age of three, with her father, a piano
teacher. At the age of four, it was recognized that she not only had
perfect pitch but also an incredible tonal memory, with the ability to
play, after hearing only once, a series of some 35 randomly chosen
single pitches played on the piano.
Trombino Piano Gallerie
942 Penn Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
412.765.0600
The year 2003 will mark the
150th. Anniversary of
Steinway & Sons
In an age of mass production, Steinway & Sons remains a
testament to individual craftsmanship, each year producing a
limited number of handmade pianos, considered by many to be
the finest in the world.
Steinway & Sons was founded in 1853 by German immigrant
Henry Engelhard Steinway in a Manhattan loft on Varick Street.
Henry was a master cabinet maker who built his first piano in
the kitchen of his Seesen, Germany home. By the time Henry
established Steinway & Sons, he had built 482 pianos. The first
piano produced by the company, number 483, was sold to a
New York family for $500. It is now displayed at New York
City's Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Over the next forty years, Henry and his sons, Henry Jr., Albert,
C.F. Theodore and Charles, developed the modem piano. Almost
half of the company's 114 patented inventions were developed
during this period. Many of these late nineteenth-century inventions were based on emerging scientific research, including the
acoustical theories of the renowned physicist Hermann von
Helmholtz.
Steinway's revolutionary designs and superior workmanship
began receiving national recognition almost immediately.
Starting in 1855, Steinway pianos received gold medals at
several U.S. and European exhibitions. The company gained
international recognition in 1867 at the Paris Exhibition when it
was awarded the prestigious "Grand Gold Medal of Honor" for
excellence in manufacturing and engineering. It was the first
time an American company had received this award. Steinway
pianos quickly became the piano of choice for many members
of royalty and won the respect and admiration of the world's
great pianists.
In 1866 Steinway & Sons opened the first Steinway Hall on
14th Street. With a main auditorium of 2,000 seats, it became
New York City's artistic and cultural center, housing the New
York Philharmonic until Carnegie Hall opened in 1891.
By this time, the company had moved to its current location in
the Astoria section of Queens, New York, and built Steinway
Village. Virtually its own town, Steinway Village had its own
foundries, factory, post office , parks and housing for employees.
In 1871, Henry Sr. died and sons C.F. Theodore and William
took over operations . An accomplished pianist, C.F. Theodore
was responsible for the technical aspects of piano making and
personally earned the company 41 patents, including one in
1875 for the modem concert grand piano . In the same year,
William helped establish a showroom in London . Five years
later, in 1880, the Hamburg factory began operating and a retail
operation, the Steinway-Haus, was established. Another retail
operation opened in Berlin in 1909.
Today, Steinway & Sons crafts approximately 5,000 pianos a
year worldwide . Over 900 prominent concert artists and
ensembles across the world bear the title Steinway Artist. No
artist or ensemble is a paid endorser of the piano. Each Steinway
Artist personally owns a Steinway and has chosen to perform
on the Steinway piano professionally. In North America, artists
select their Steinway for concert performances from the
company 's unique "piano bank," an inventory of more than 300
pianos valued at over $15 million.
Pianos are placed throughout North America and are maintained
to concert standards by an exclusive network of Steinway
dealers. The famed "basement" of New York' s Steinway Hall,
at 109 West 57th Street in New York City, is the bank's home
office . Branch piano banks are maintained at Steinway
dealerships in cities throughout the country to serve performing
artists. In all other countries, major concert venues in each town
own Steinway & Sons instruments which the artist can use.
M
STEINWAY & SONS