This guide to new piano brands offers brief, candid company overviews designed to familiarize piano buyers with the brands that they are likely going to see if they walk into piano stores in the U.S. It is NOT a complete list of all the current piano manufacturers in the world. Such a list would result in information overload for most buyers and would include brands that may not either be widely distributed in the U.S. or are so sparsely distributed that they're not likely an option for most buyers.
Baldwin
Baldwin is one of the most recognizable grand piano brands in the history of the piano industry. It is also the brand whose products have covered the quality spectrum. In its early 20th century heyday, Baldwin was a prestigious brand in America that...read more
Bosendorfer
With retail prices in the $100,000-$500,000 range, Bosendorfer pianos aren't usually an "add to cart" purchase. At least for regular people. In fact, Bosendorfer pianos are actually much more expensive than Steinway pianos and are even...read more
Boston
Boston is a trade name of Steinway introduced in 1992 and it is applied to mid-priced pianos that are manufactured by Kawai and sold through Steinway’s dealer network across the world. So is it a Steinway?...read more
Essex
Essex pianos are manufactured by the Pearl River piano company in China and sold only through the Steinway dealer network. The Essex piano brand was created in 2000 as the economy line to Steinway and was initially...read more
Estonia
Estonia pianos have gained worldwide acclaim as being among the finest pianos in the world – at a fraction of the price of its European competitors. This page will give you the history of how this unlikely brand, during an unfavorable global economic...read more
Hallet Davis
Hallet Davis pianos are reliable, affordable and have great curb appeal, which is something not often found at lower price points. This historic brand name offers the most complete product line in a wide variety of finishes...read more
Kawai
Cordogan's has the distinction of being the first Kawai dealer in the U.S. – a relationship that began in 1962 when Kawai first started to export from Japan. Over the decades we have been one of Kawai's largest dealers in the world. Kawai pianos continue...read more
Knabe
In the world of iconic American piano brand names, there are basically five revered names that helped America compete on the global stage – literally and figuratively. The Knabe piano is one of them. For the record, the other four are...read more
Mason & Hamlin
Mason & Hamlin sits at the top of the food chain alongside Steinway as the two most prestigious brands in the American piano industry. Each of these brands has been producing handmade instruments for over 150 years...read more
Pearl River
Pearl River was one of the first Chinese piano companies to export to the U.S. In the 90's, Pearl River pianos were nothing to write home about. We know...because we bought one. Exactly one. Let's just say we weren't...read more
Pramberger
In order to under just what a Pramberger piano is, it would help to have the history of who Joseph Pramberger is and why his name was ever put on a piano in the first place. In the 80’s, the Japanese Kawai & Yamaha pianos were enjoying...read more
Schimmel
Schimmel is an interesting piano brand in that it is a German piano company that doesn't quite have the panache of the other German makers but it is still a fine piano. It's a little unfair to liken it to Volkswagon in this regard, as Schimmel pianos are...read more
Seiler
The short story is this: Seiler is a brand name that had produced fine handmade German pianos since 1817. Today however, most Seiler pianos are being manufactured in Indonesia and bear little resemblance to the...read more
Shigeru Kawai
Shigeru Kawai pianos have become a resounding choice among top-level pianists and buyers who wish to have the very best performance in a piano. In a world where the top-tier piano market has been dominated for over a century by...read more
Steinway & Sons
Steinway pianos are world class instruments with a rich history that has been chronicled countless times in various media. We will not attempt to rewrite that book. 🙂 We will however bring to your attention some information that...read more
Yamaha
While most people may think of a lot of different products when they hear the word "Yamaha", Yamaha pianos was the first product the company ever made. Yamaha began as a piano manufacturer in 1901 and decades later...read more
