Pianos
Robert Street grew up in the piano business. In 1914, Robert’s grandfather, Claude P. Street, opened his first music store in Nashville, Tennessee. Claude was certain that a successful business could be built by offering the finest keyboard instruments and professional service, a philosophy the...
Eddie Tishkoff and his brother Jerry owned the famous Hollywood Piano Company and Hollywood Piano Rental Company located in Southern California, one of the busiest piano rental outfits in the industry thanks to the nearby movie studios. The stores gained fame for providing instruments for the...
Arthur Linter had many stories to share, like the one about his real birthday. “My mother told me, ‘Your birthday is March 14, 1913, but it says April 5 on your birth certificate because the doctor put it in his pocket and carried it around for a few days before he filed it.’”
He was a street wise...
Jerry Tishkoff and his brother Eddie owned the famous Hollywood Piano Company and Hollywood Piano Rental Company located in Southern California. The stores gained fame for providing instruments for the movies going as far back as “The Music Box” in 1932 starring Laurel and Hardy. Throughout the...
Lorin Hollander is a world-renowned concert pianist with a continuously acclaimed 50-year international career that began with a Carnegie Hall debut at the age of 11. Lorin was an infant child prodigy who composed music at age three and performed Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier at five. Since then, he...
Wolfgang Förster’s family-owned piano company was formed in 1859 by August Förster, who opened a small piano workshop in "Löbau, Germany. Wolfgang grew up in the family business and recalls as a young boy hiding under the workbench while his father and grandfather worked on building pianos. After...
Ingbert Bluthner followed in the rich history of his family tradition of building world-class pianos. Under Ingbert’s leadership the company expanded production and models along with developing new global distribution chains. Over the years, since his own oral history interview, Ingbert has been a...
Henry Heller recalled with detail his father’s idea of moving the Aeolian Piano Company’s manufacturing plant from New York to Memphis. During the months of the move in the early 1950s, his father suffered a heart attack and died. It was up to Henry not only to take over the project of moving the...
Gerald Wilson was among the great arrangers of jazz, beginning back in the swing era when he worked for the famed Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra. He established a distinctive style rich in melodic phrases and tasty rhythms, which stood out among the most stylish jazz arrangements. The impressive list...
Bob Bull held many positions throughout the music products industry over his long career. However, he is perhaps best known as the president of the Steinway & Sons piano company during the early 1970s. At the time, Steinway was owned by CBS Musical Instruments. Bob, as the president of Steinway...