The Baldwin Piano Company is the largest US-based manufacturer of keyboard instruments, most notably pianos. Its CEO is Robert J. Jones, and is a subsidiary of the Gibson Guitar Corporation. Motto: (traditional) In God We Trust (official, 1956–present) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City Official language(s) None at the federal level; English de facto Government Federal Republic  - President George W. Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence - Declared - Recognized... Piano, a well-known instance of keyboard instruments A keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a musical keyboard. ... A grand piano, with the lid up. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

History

The company can trace its origins back to 1857, when Dwight Hamilton Baldwin began teaching piano, organ, and violin in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1862, Baldwin started a Decker Brothers piano dealership, and in 1866 hired Lucien Wulsin as a clerk. Wulsin became a partner in the dealership, by then known as D.H. Baldwin & Company, in 1873, and under his leadership, the Baldwin Company became the largest piano dealer in the Midwestern United States by the 1890s. Cincinnati, Ohio viewed from the SW, across the Ohio River from Kentucky. ... Official language(s) None Capital Columbus Largest city Columbus Largest metro area Cleveland Area  Ranked 34th  - Total 44,825 sq mi (116,096 km²)  - Width 220 miles (355 km)  - Length 220 miles (355 km)  - % water 8. ... Midwest as shown by U.S. Census Bureau official map from [3] Regional definitions vary from source to source. ...

In 1889-1890, Baldwin vowed to build "the best piano that could be built" [1], and subsequently formed two production companies: Hamilton Organ, which built reed organs, and the Baldwin Piano Company, which made pianos. The company's first piano, an upright, began selling in 1891. The company introduced its first grand piano in 1895.

Baldwin died in 1899, and left his estate to fund missionary causes. Wulsin ultimately purchased Baldwin's estate and continued the company's shift from retail to manufacturing. The company won its first major award in 1900, when their model 112 won the Grand Prix at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, the first American manufactured piano to win such an award. Baldwin manufactured pianos also won top awards at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition and the 1914 Anglo-American Exposition. By 1913, business had become brisk, with Baldwin exporting to 32 different countries in addition to having retailers throughout the United States. The Exposition Universelle of 1900 was a worlds fair held in Paris, France, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate development into the next. ... Entrance to Creation Exhibit on the Pike Map of the St. ...

Baldwin, like many other manufacturers, began building player pianos in the 1920s. The models became unpopular by the end of the 1920s, which, coupled with the beginning of the Great Depression, could have spelled disaster for Baldwin. However, the company's president, Lucien Wulsin II, had created a large reserve fund for such situations, so Baldwin was able to weather the difficult time. The player piano is a type of piano that plays music without the need for a human pianist to depress the normal keys or pedals. ... The Great Depression was an economic downturn which started in 1929 and lasted through most of the 1930s. ...

During World War II, the US War Production Board ordered the cessation of all US Piano manufacturing so that the factories could be used for the US war effort. Baldwin factories were used to manufacture wooden airplane parts for various aircraft such as the Aeronca PT-23 and the C-76 Caravan. Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom France Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Charles de Gaulle Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian... Fairchild PT-19 Fairchild PT-19 Cornell The Fairchild PT-19 was a monoplane primary trainer aircraft that served with the USAAC, RAF and RCAF during World War II. It was a contemporary of the Kaydet biplane trainer. ... C-76 Caravan is the united states military designation for the Curtiss-Wright CW-27 medium military transport aircraft. ...

After the war ended, Baldwin resumed selling pianos, and by 1953 doubled production from their prewar capacity. In 1946, Baldwin introduced the first electronic organ, which became so successful that the company changed its name to the Baldwin Piano & Organ Company. By 1963, the company had acquired C. Bechstein Pianofortefabrik and remained its owner until 1986. As even more evidence of their growth, the company built its one millionth upright in 1973. C. Bechstein Pianofortefabrik AG (FWB:BEP) (Bechstein) is a German manufacturer of pianos, especially grand pianos. ...

The company is currently part of the Gibson Guitar Corporation and manufactures instruments under the Baldwin, Chickering, Wurlitzer, Hamilton, and Howard names. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Chickering and Sons was an American piano manufacturer located in Boston, known for producing award-winning instruments of superb quality and design. ... The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to simply as Wurlitzer, is an American company, formerly a producer of stringed instruments, woodwind, brass instruments, theatre organs, band organs, orchestrions, electric pianos and jukeboxes. ...

Notable Baldwin artists

Amy Lynn Lee (born December 13, 1981 in Riverside, California) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. ... Evanescence is a rock/alternative/pop[1] band from Little Rock, Arkansas, USA. Early in their career, the rock band garnered local fame in Little Rock before releasing their first major label album Fallen, which went on to sell over 14 million copies worldwide. ... Clay Aiken (born Clayton Holmes Grissom on November 30, 1978) is an American pop singer who rose to fame on the second season of the television program American Idol in 2003. ... Wilhelm Backhaus Wilhelm Backhaus (March 26, 1884–July 5, 1969) was a German pianist. ... Béla Bartók in 1927 Bartok redirects here. ... The Carpenters were a vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of siblings Karen and Richard Carpenter. ... Charles Édouard Dutoit (born October 7, 1939) is a conductor. ... William John Evans, (better known as Bill Evans) (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was one of the most famous jazz pianists of the 20th century; he remains one of the major influences on post-1950s jazz piano. ... Benjamin Scott Folds (born September 12, 1966, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina), more commonly known as Ben Folds, is an American singer-songwriter and the former front man of the musical group Ben Folds Five. ... Lukas Foss (born Lukas Fuchs, August 15, 1922 in Berlin, Germany) is an American composer and conductor. ... Walter Wilhelm Gieseking (November 5, 1895 – October 26, 1956) was a German pianist and composer. ... Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer. ... Roland Hanna (February 10, 1932 in Detroit, Michigan – November 13, 2002 in Hackensack, New Jersey) is an American jazz pianist. ... Jose Iturbi photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1933 Jose Iturbi (November 28, 1895 - June 28, 1980) was a Spanish conductor and pianist. ... Liberace shows off his rings (circa 1980). ... Keith Lockhart (born November 1959, Poughkeepsie, New York, USA) is an orchestral conductor. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Marian McPartland, born Margaret Marian Turner on March 21, 1918 in England near Slough, Buckinghamshire, is a British jazz pianist. ... Patrick Moraz Patrick Moraz (born June 24, 1948 in Morges, Switzerland) is a progressive rock keyboard player. ... Seiji Ozawa , born September 1, 1935) is a Japanese conductor. ... Luciano Pavarotti (born October 12, 1935), an Italian tenor, is one of the most famous living singers, not only in the world of opera, but across all genres. ... Stephen Michael Reich (born October 3, 1936) is an American composer. ... Ottorino Respighi (Bologna, July 9, 1879 - Rome, April 18, 1936) was an Italian composer, musicologist and violinist. ... Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1945 in New York City) is an Academy Award, Golden Globe and two-times Grammy Awards winning American musician who emerged as one of the leading lights of the early 1970s singer-songwriter movement. ... Stephen Joshua Sondheim (b. ... Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (Russian: Игорь Фёдорович Стравинский, Igor Fëdorovič Stravinskij) (June 17, 1882 – April 6, 1971) was a Russian composer who first achieved international fame with three ballets commissioned by the impresario Serge Diaghilev and performed by Diaghilevs Ballets Russes (Russian Ballet): LOiseau de feu (The Firebird) (1910), Petrushka (1911... John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932) is one of the most widely recognized composers of film scores. ...

Current models

Source

• Crombie, David. Piano: Evolution, Design, and Performance. Hong Kong: Barnes and Noble, 2000. First printed by Balafon Books, Great Britain, 1995. (ISBN 0-7607-2026-6)

External links

• Baldwin website