1999

Thursday 18th March saw the end of the 10-year ban on importing ivory into Japan. After the February meeting in Washington the Convention committee decided to allow three African nations, including Zimbabwe, to resume exports of ivory to Japan. The number of elephants in Zimbabwe had increased, so the committee imposed a limited volume of exports per year to 60 tons. Ivory is now only being used for the production of keys for Yamaha concert grand pianos. Currently only 80 concert pianos are produced annually, each requiring 24 kilograms of ivory.

1999

The 12th of April was the first day for a new company born from the ashes of Herrburger Brooks. The new company is called Langer Ltd.; it was formed by David Martin and two other former directors of the old Herrburger Brooks. They have moved into smaller premises, but have kept the machinery and fifty members of the old work force. They will continue to make action and keys but will no longer be making hammers.

1999

On Thursday 12 December Deutsche Bank announced that they were buying Baldwin retail financing units at a cost of 35 million dollars. The financing units are for the purchase of musical instruments, primarily pianos. Deutsche Financial Services is well experienced in financing and able to maintain dealer relationships - important to Baldwin piano sales. This sell-off will help Baldwin Pianos to clear some of its debts and concentrate on piano production.

2000

The year 2000 marks the 300th year of piano manufacturing--Happy Birthday!

2000

January sees the launch of the new Shigeru grand by Kawai. It has been in the mind of Mr. Shigeru Kawai for over fifty years. In 1980 the Piano Research & Development Laboratory (called the Shigeru Kawai Piano Research Laboratory) was founded, and work began on creating this life-long dream of Shigeru. The creation of the laboratory led to the production of the Kawai EX Concert Grand Piano, which has been played by first-prize winners at major piano competitions around the world. This "quest for perfection" eventually became the basis for the Shigeru Kawai grand pianos. All Shigeru grands are handcrafted by master piano artisans from the Shigeru Piano Research Laboratory. Bass strings are hand wound, hammers are specially hand made (identical to the hammers found on the EX Concert Grand Piano), and soundboards are aged naturally (not in kilns) for five to fifteen years. In general, the various building processes take three to five times longer on a Shigeru Kawai grand than on a regular Kawai grand, thus the number is strictly limited.

2000

February sees the launch of the new Quantum Piano, a collaboration between Conran & Partners and Kemble. Conran designed the case and Kemble designed the inside. The piano has a larger soundboard area than many baby grands, and is also fitted with a sostenuto pedal. Sadly they are only making sixty as a limited edition piano.

2000

The Pearl River Piano Group announced they were to begin production of the old German make Ritmuller. Apparently they will be using the original scale design to keep the European sound, and the pianos are to be made in a special part of the Pearl River Factory. The pianos are aimed at the US market.

2000

Kemble's license to manufacture Chappell pianos ended this year. It will be interesting to see who takes over the manufacture of Chappell pianos. Kemble has the right to the name till 2005, so we will have to wait until then.

2000

On July 14 Overs Pianos of Australia launched their new action at the Australasian Piano Tuners and Technicians Convention in Sydney. It will be fitted into a Steinbach 225 cm. grand piano, with some bridge and scale modifications. This action is the product of computer-aided design; it apparently has superior performance over existing piano actions. The Overs Action offers pianists a level of control, responsiveness and speed unrivalled in grand pianos to date, with a down weight of 50 grams and up weight just over 40 grams. In comparison most of the popular grands have a 50 grams down and 23 grams up. The closer the up weight is to the down weight the more responsive the action is.

2000

On 14 July there was an official press release on the merger between Whelpdale Maxwell & Cod Ltd., London, and Woodchester Pianos, Stroud. The new company will be known as "The British Piano Manufacturing Company Ltd.," and will incorporate the Welmar Piano Co., the Bentley Piano Co., Alfred Knight Ltd., The Woodchester Piano Co., Sir Herbert Marshall and Sons Ltd., and the Stroud Piano Co. Whelpdale, which makes Broadwood, Bentley, Knight, and Welmar pianos, will be moving production from the London factory to the Woodchester factory in Stroud, Gloucester. For Bentley Pianos this is a move back to where they were established. The new company will be making the following brands: Broadwood, Rogers, Hopkinson, Gehr, Steinberg, Lipp, Zender. The new company is to work with Ladbrooks Pianos to produce a new Broadwood steel barless upright piano.