While opportunities to meet famed artists like Lady Gaga and Laufey are slim, Long Island will get the chance to experience a piece of them at the Steinway & Sons showroom’s exhibition of the two pianos that accompanied them on stage.
From June 25-29, the Steinway & Sons showroom in Manhasset will be displaying two special grand pianos: the white Steinway Spirio | r concert grand Model D that Lady Gaga played during her Las Vegas residency and the Ebony Model M grand that musician Laufey performed on during her “Bewitched” tour.
Steinway showroom manager Yu Zhang-Koslovsky, a Juilliard-train pianist, said Steinway pianos are a special instrument pianists can perform on and the go-to for artists like Billy Joel, Lang Lang and Diana Krall.
“Steinway is their love,” Zhang-Koslovsky said. “Any pianist would love to play on the Steinway piano when they perform, when they practice.”
Zhang-Koslovsky said what makes Steinway so special is not only their quality, but also their origins in New York City. All their pianos are still handmade in their New York City factory, taking upwards of eight months to produce just one grand piano and manufacturing between 800 and 1,000 a year.
She said pianists select their Steinways based on the connection they share with them, including the sound and touch. This included Lady Gaga, who selected the concert grand for her jazz tour.
“Some people are looking for sweetness, some people are looking for some power, more daps in the sound,” Zhang-Koslovsky said. “Each person, they have a preference.”
The Spirio model piano, which is the one Lady Gaga played, is Steinway’s latest and most advanced high-resolution player piano. This piano can also perform replicated live performances of famed pianists calculated by their very touch.
“You can’t even tell that it’s not a live performance. They sound just like the artist’s playing live,” Zhang-Koslovsky said. “Every little nuance, every dynamic change, all the touch of the artist, their emotions come through this technology.”
The few days that the pianos will be featured at the Manhasset showroom is part of a larger tour encompassing both the East and West Coasts. The two pianos will also be shown in the New York City showroom from July 2–20.
Individuals will also be able to experience the pianos themselves as they are invited to play the pianos.
The Manhasset gallery is located at 1488 Northern Blvd., which opened in 2024 after relocating from Huntington.
Individuals wanting to experience the pianos are required to register beforehand online.
