See a Steinway Craftsman in Action

I need an excuse to go to Manhattan next week so I can spend a day just watching Steinway craftsman Sante Auriti working his magic, building a Steinway grand piano.

From Monday, March 16th until Friday, March 27th, Auriti won’t be working in his usual workshop. Instead, he’ll be working in plain view in the window of Steinway Hall’s main rotunda, fitting the braces, fitting and gluing the case moldings, rough carving the bottom edge of the rim and fitting the legs of a new Steinway “Louis XV” grand piano.

Putting together a Steinway piano is a long process. They’re still made by hand, one at a time, and it takes a year to make each one. The outer shell – called the case – is built only by senior craftsmen with decades of experience. It’s slow, deliberate work that requires a lot of patience, and I think it would be pretty interesting to watch it in action.

A Flickr user going by the name “Vidiot” has posted a photoset of Auriti doing his work – click here to check it out.