At Peabody, in Julian Martin’s studio (co-owners Keith Kerman and Shaun Tirrell’s teacher) sat 2 pianos side by side: a Baldwin 7' grand and a Steinway B (6’11”) grand.
This was Shaun’s personal home instrument throughout his years at Oberlin and later at the Peabody Conservatory of Music on which he prepared for many important Competitions and concerts. Co-owner Shaun Tirrell’s first grand piano was a handcrafted 7' Baldwin which he personally selected at the Tanglewood Performing Arts Center.
PianoCraft’s unofficial relationship with Baldwin, however, goes back much further. PianoCraft’s official relationship with Baldwin dates to the early 2000s when we were hired by them to do concert and artist work for Baldwin and Baldwin artists in the Baltimore – Washington DC metropolitan area at venues such as the Kennedy Center. The American-owned Baldwin piano company’s storied history goes back more than 150 years and is rivaled in the United States only by Boston-era pre-1930 Mason & Hamlin and by Steinway. PianoCraft is proud to be the official authorized Baldwin piano dealer for the Washington DC metropolitan area (including suburban Maryland and northern Virginia) metropolitan areas. We invite you to make an appointment to try an Estonia piano for yourself to see if it lives up to its reputation. So, for about the price of the mass produced pianos from Asia, you can own a true, European handcrafted, limited production piano with a voice all its own.
PianoCraft carries all sizes of Estonia grand pianos, where they are prepared to a standard only available at PianoCraft. Estonia has found its voice - a romantic, singing voice all its own. Every piano manufacturer of integrity strives to find its own unique voice, and frankly few ever do. This accomplishment would satisfy any piano manufacturer, but the Estonia piano is so much more. Over the last 10 years, Estonia pianos have consistently been recognized as the best value in handcrafted European pianos, costing about half the price of similarly made pianos coming from Germany. As the ownership of PianoCraft is composed of conservatory-trained pianists, we feel a special connection with the Estonia Piano Company. The Estonia Piano Company is the only current piano manufacturer owned by a genuine concert pianist, Juilliard-trained Dr. Finally, differences in the lever lengths of black and white keys (1 gram less per black key) are equalised during counterbalancing, all of which rounds off an incomparable playing experience. Twenty percent more up-weight as well as non-slip key tops (white keys made of mineral ivory substitute – 10,000 year-old mammoth ivory is also an option – and black keys of solid ebony), make the touch and feel of our grand pianos an intuitive delight. All frames are designed without cross struts at the front, offering great advantages for ‘una corda’ playing, as well as for ‘extended techniques’ often called for in New Music. Furthermore a Steingraeber speciality, the uniformly flexible, yet straight and suspensionless bass bridge, reinforces the resonant capabilities of the soundboard. Transparency of tone is ensured through a tightly-controlled soundboard with an expansive bass bridge, while maximum dynamic range is obtained by the use of tough, durable instrument casing which consists of up to 36 horizontal and 18 vertical layers of beech wood. In addition, the E-272, D-232 and C-212 models are furnished with pressure bridges (capo d’astro) to enhance the instruments’ treble range. Our pianos have almost unlimited endurance.Īctive hitch pins on all models purposefully enhance overtones according to the ‘Mischklangprinzip’, through which tone colours are seamlessly brought together to create a unified and rich sound-world. You will find a more-detailed description of the dynamic resonating materials we use under ‘Production Principles’. Our five grand piano models enjoy the benefit of more than 160 years’ experience and reflect our commitment to achieving the perfect sound: transparent, rich in overtones and extremely versatile.