The beautiful weather we have been having is making me reminiscent of this time 2 years ago when my new piano was delivered. My search began 6 months earlier. I'd had a very busy career since moving to NYC as a rock keyboardist & singer and our Baldwin baby grand had sufficed as an acoustic instrument amidst the many & varied keyboards I used for touring and recording. The past few years have found me rediscovering my classical roots and the need to really step it up a notch in regards to a beautiful piano finally caught up with me.
While at the Eastman School of Music during my undergraduate training I yearned for a German piano. A Bosendorfer or German Steinway, but as I had always known, once I started researching, I quickly discovered that the german instruments I loved cost as much as a new house and the ones in my price point (which was not a small amount of money) were non-existent. I couldn't believe it.
I looked at piano's all over the east coast. I wanted an older instrument as I lusted for the real ivory keys (now illegal) and the sparkle & depth that came with a piano at least 7 feet in length. I became a regular at all the piano boutiques in NYC and combed the tri-state area for months. At the beginning of my search, however, my first phone call was to Keith Plumley at Case Brothers Piano & Organs in Spartanburg SC, where I bought my very first piano as a child. (and also the largest Steinway dealer in the Southeast) When I was growing up, they had a special room that I could view only from behind a velvet rope. In in it there were beautiful & formidable European instruments. I wondered if they still had them.
When I spoke with Keith he cheerily informed me they had indeed 3 German pianos, 2 of which I actually knew the previous owners. I was so excited. A Bosendorfer, a Feurich and a Grotrian. All creme of the crop. All with wonderful stories. I knew it would take me a couple of months to get there with my schedule, so I was 2 months into my search when I finally made it down to see the instruments.
To make a very long story short, after 2 trips to SC, 6 months & hundreds of piano's later I bought my dream instrument at Case Brothers, the very place my dream began to become a pianist. It was delivered by the owner himself, Tom Case, his wife Ginger and his gracious southern team of Reggie & Levar. They were enhanced with 3 bruisers from New Jersey who carried the 750 lb. piano up a flight of stairs to my studio. (Another story unto itself) A gorgeous 1981, 7 1/2 foot Grotrian. Because the piano was a trade in and because we had history together, they dramatically manipulated the numbers so that I could realize my dream of owning a beautiful German piano.
They are a family owned business of 3 generations, highly skilled with mountains of integrity in a world where there is no honor among thieves and absolutely hands down, the best in the business. If you are searching for a piano, search no further. http://www.casebrothers.com/
I love Case Brothers.
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