Steinway Piano Gallery opens in Seoul hoping to expand high-quality piano market

Steinway Piano Gallery in Seoul / Courtesy of Cosmos Corporation

By Park Ji-won

The German-American piano company Steinway & Sons has opened the largest exhibition hall for the instrument in Korea. The Steinway Piano Gallery opened in downtown Seoul in early June, displaying 18 Steinway pianos in the 600-square-meter space.

Cosmos Corporation, one of the largest classical instrument companies in Korea and the exclusive distributor of Steinway & Sons products here, opened the gallery on the first floor of its headquarters building, presenting selected items worth some 4 billion won ($3.58 million), including a concert grand piano Steinway D-274 that costs a cool 295 million won. In addition to the analog pianos, it also displays a Spirio digital piano, which can automatically play up to 6,000 pieces mimicking actual techniques of performers such as pianists Kim Sun-wook and Vladimir Horowitz.

It took months for Cosmos Corporation to win approval to open the store from the German-American piano company, which made strict orders about keeping the pianos in top shape while bringing them to the country.

Steinway Piano Gallery in Seoul / Courtesy of Cosmos Corporation

For example, Steinway & Sons asked the Korean company to place upright pianos of its sister brand Essex in a triangular form so that the presentation can show more of their soundboards. Also, the piano maker asked the Korean distributer to place a certain number of plants next to pianos to maintain humidity levels.

When asked why the Korean music company decided to exhibit the expensive instruments, Min Kwan-ki, president of Cosmos Corporation, stressed that his company aims to expand the high-end piano market and provide more chances for young musicians to experience concert pianos so that they can perform better on the stage.

"Korean customers buy some 30 to 40 pianos per year, but Japanese customers buy some 200 pianos in the same period. About 70 percent of customers (of Steinway pianos) in Japan and Singapore are not professional performers, but individual piano lovers. Nobody questions the purchase of a luxury foreign car anymore. I would like to apply that sentiment to pianos as well. Korea already has world-class classical musicians, but I felt so bad for not having (a high-end market). So the introduction of the gallery is the pride of Cosmos Corporation. I think in the near future, demand for high-quality pianos will rise and we hope to contribute to it," Min told The Korea Times at the Steinway Piano Gallery in Seoul, Monday.

In addition to introducing the pianos to more Korean customers, Cosmos also aims to support talented musicians by making its practice room available to musicians so they can practice and perform piano pieces using Steinway products which are often used in large performances. Cosmos also built a small concert room with 70 seats inside its headquarters building.

Musicians can make reservations to use the practice room for just around 50,000 won an hour and have access to three different Steinway pianos.

"We are planning to hold small concerts like the Seoul Arts Center does at 11 a.m. I hope young musicians and customers can come to the gallery to practice and dream about bigger stages or about owning a high-quality piano in the future here."

Steinway Piano Gallery in Seoul / Courtesy of Cosmos Corporation

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