We are working on putting together a tour of European Piano Factories.

We have standing invitations from Steingraeber, Bluthner, Bosendorfer, Estonia, and Fazioli, as well as Renner (actions).

I realize we can't take them all in during one trip, we'll have to work out those details.

Because Europe is so beautiful, with incredible architecture and so much history, I'm thinking we'll want to take in more than the piano places.

Some composers homes/birth-places would be fun, as would music halls, opera houses, Cathedrals (think pipe organs), etc.

We still have a lot of details to work out, including
When: (it will be sometime in 2011)
Where: (Germany, Austria, Italy, Estonia, etc.)
Which Factories
How Long
Where to Stay
The rest of the itinerary

Right now I'm looking for input and feedback from those who have been there (ex: BosieEric, Rich G.?) and...

I would like to know if any of you think you would be interested in joining us for this tour.

If you even think you might be interested, please reply to this post.

Definitely am interested. Good chance I'll finally be retired by then.

I do not know much about piano factories in Italy, but I live in Milan, and play a Steinvway C; I think this sounds like a great idea and as I speak Italian, please let me know if I can be of any help.

Sure, I might be interested. It depends on when, cost, etc. When I visit Europe I usually travel pretty spartan.

In fact I was recently on business in Frankfurt and I took a side trip to Prague and I visited the C. Bechstein/Bohemia factory in Hradec Kralova. It was really pretty cool.

John

Thanks Milano, we may well want to take you up on your offer.

Not sure if we will get to the Fazioli factory in the 2011 tour, but our plan is to do another tour in 2012 to visit the places we miss in 2011.

The Fazioli factory is located in Sacile, 60 Km (35 miles) northeast of Venice in the northeastern part of Italy.

Can't make them all?

Sounds wonderful. I am interested depending on the dates of course - can't go in gardening season! Late spring or fall would be great - I could make some arrangements for the business then. Would be interested in doing other musical things as well. Might be interested in a female roommate to cut expenses.

As to make traveling practical by keeping distances as short as possible it could be a good idea to have a look at this Google map which I have stolen from one of Eric Johnson's websites:

European piano builders

schwammerl.

Very cool schwammerl, thanks (and thanks Eric).

Yikes, now the list is longer.

Although we only have direct invites from 4 or 5 manufacturers, I'm pretty sure most would welcome a visit given enough notice.

My plan is to intersperse factory tours with side trips to some of the many wonderful sights, sounds, and tastes of Europe (says the guy who's never been there, but who's sister and friends rave about it).

Well we'll just have to organize additional trips as time goes by.

Sounds like a nice trip. Might be able to take a week or two off to join, if I know when it will happen a few months in advance and if it's not too busy at the job. And Yes I also will have to be careful with the budget though I dont want to share a room

I'm planning to retire in 2011 and I would love to go. I'm also going to buy a grand when I retire and have money direct depositing to a savings account for that. Guess I better increase the amount for a possible trip!

Like everyone else, the timing of the trip, etc., will be the deciding factor though.

We are continuing to develop our plans for the 2011 European Piano Tour.

Our own Robin Meloy Goldsby (author of the books Piano Girl, and Rhythm, and instigator of the Let's Talk Weddings thread) has offered us a free concert at one of the venues she plays for. We're leaning toward the Schloss-Lerbach Castle in Bergisch Gladbach near to Cologne, Germany.
http://www.schlosshotel-lerbach.com/en/



She's also graciously offered to help us figure out what to see and do (rumor has it she has an in at the Hamburg Steinway factory too).

At this time our initial plans include:

Visiting Steingraber factory in Bayreuth, Bluthner in GroBposna, Bosendorfer in Vienna Austria, and if time and scheduling allows we would like to see Fazioli in Sacile PN Italy.

Also under consideration...
When we go to Austria, Mozart, Beethoven,(house on Probusgasse) and Strauss are three of the composers we are interested in seeing either home sites or venues where they were well known.
Musikverein , Shloss Shonbrunn Stephansdom (where Mozart was married), in Salzburg (Mozart's birthplace) and the "Sound of Music" venues there.

Time permitting, we would love to get to Italy and see Fazioli's and Venice.

We are now working with a travel agent who lives here in the States, but was originally from Poland and Germany.

It appears a 12 day trip would be about right, giving us 2 days of travel (one each way), and 10 days of sight-seeing/hearing/playing/picture taking.

Our agent is working on some itineraries and initial pricing estimates.
For U.S. travelers we are talking about meeting in Tampa, FL or Boston, MA.

In the meantime, we're still open to suggestions about what to see.

Our agent suggests May/June as the best time, followed by Sept/Oct. However she said
Sept. can be rainy, and you don't want to be in Germany during Octoberfest (unless that's what you were going there for).


Additional updates coming soon.

Interested. Very interested. Last time I was in Austria I didn't go see Bösendorfer - I didn't think of it until after we left (what an idiot, huh)... it would be great if the kids weren't in school when this occured - the whole family could go then.

I love to do this trip. I have seen some of the places mentioned in Vienna and Salzburg but willing to do see these again. This is the kind of trip I look forward to, pianos, pianos related stuff....and not to mention beautiful sceneries in Europe. Any idea around which part of 2011 will this take place (or at least which month)and the cost of this trip?
I figure that this trip will start off in the US, can a non-US person join in? Thanks.

Hi Victor,

We're leaning toward May/June 2011.

Started working with a travel agent here in the states.
She lived in Poland and Germany, and had a travel agency in Germany.

Now she lives in Florida and works with a travel agency here.
And.. her husband plays piano.

Haven't got cost estimates yet, but hoping to have some ideas soon.

By all means we'd love to have people from other countries join us.
Piano World is international as is our membership. We will likely arrange for the
folks from the States here to meet in one place and travel over together.

But we would certainly love to have members (and guests) from other countries join us, and would be happy to have our agent help you coordinate the travel, and of course, would like all of us to stay in the same hotels (castle?).

More coming soon.

It sounds like a wonderful trip. I second JeffBC's request that it be scheduled for June, when the kids are out of school.

I work for a university and am not allowed to take vacation during Commencement week (May 15-21, 2011) so I'd also prefer June.

I would love to join the group and also help however I can. I am looking forward to this and will clear my schedule however I can in anticipation.

Great Rich, would love to get your input.

I know you've been over there (I remember the beautiful pictures you posted).

All help is much appreciated.

Our agent is working up some itineraries, and it going to get us some ballpark figures. The problem is, it's difficult to nail prices down so far in advance.

We will keep working on the when, where, and what, then follow up with pricing as soon as it's available. This is open to any of our members/guests from around the world. For U.S. members, we will likely meet in one place and fly over together.

For folks from other countries, we'll do what we can to help coordinate travel and lodging.

Best,

Frank B.

Interested. Waiting for details.

Great, very happy to see more and more people interested in visiting the European piano builders.

We are continuing to work on the itinerary, our plan being to take in some top-notch piano builders, some piano shops, music halls, composers homes, etc.

Trying not to cram too much into one trip, but we're very excited about visiting Europe and all it has to offer.

At this point we are leaning toward June, and likely a 12 day trip, two of which will be for travel, ten for the sight-seeing and enjoying.

More coming, keep watching this thread, and make sure you get our free newsletter, as we will be making announcements in the newsletter.

And by all means, if you have any interest in this trip, please let us know by replying in this thread.

wow, just discovered this thread.

i would like to suggest a visit to baden-baden. not only is it absolutely gorgeous that time of year (it's in the black forest and there are gardens and castles galore), but it's very international, has great restaurants and hotels, the ancient and modern baths and spas are unlike anything in america, AND, AND, the brahmshaus museum is there.

plus, the abel hammer factory and sauter piano factory are not too far away, IIRR.

i would think that at least one visit to a hammer maker or an action maker would be worth while.

also, visiting a soundboard maker such as ciresa in the val di fiemme in northern italy, or strunz on the german/austrian border would be highly educational.

i don't know if i can make it. mr. pique and i are discussing now whether or not i should apply for a fellowship in italy for next year, so that throws a big question mark into my plans. of course, if i'm already over there, that makes the decision a lot easier!

ten days is a really short time to cover so much ground. will be interested in seeing how the plans all turn out...

p.s.

i just want to say that when i was planning my own european tour, norbert was extremely helpful in developing a workable piano-centric itinerary.

where is he?

Yes, I’d certainly like to be counted in on this, subject to additional information regarding price estimates – assuming of course one wouldn’t have to rob too many banks to finance such a wonderful sounding trip.
And as Piqué suggested I’d just love the Sauter piano factory to be included.

Please include me in any dissemination of info regarding this trip. For me, it will depend greatly on scheduling (and of course cost), but I'd like to be in the loop for consideration... sounds like a fantastic trip.

I am already in Austria, but it sounds really nice. I would love to join if I can.

I also live in Europa, in Spain, but it seems to me a very beautifull trip and a good idea.
I would like to be informed.

Best regards

Yes, do keep us informed.

If I'm not in Korea or China or some other exotic land--and if it can be fitted into our budget--we'd be interested.

Can't conflict with the PTG convention, of course.

ddf

Hope you can make it Del, it would be fun to have you and Barbara along.

Do you know the dates for the PTG in 2011?

- FB

Another suggestion......perhaps a visit to a fortepiano maker? Great to sample fortepianos as well I would think.

For us, price would be a consideration. Also, in a matter completely unrelated to pianos, every 2-3 years I take people to walk across the Grand Canyon and May/June 2011 is the next tentative time frame for that. Later June would be better because we never venture into the Canyon in the summer.

Further about price, we just visited our son in Thailand this past January. We found ourselves to be just as comfortable and perhaps enjoyed ourselves more in some of the more modest venues than when we were in an international-class accommodation.

--Keith