September 13, 1985

  • A press-conference, held in Steinway Hall, informs the media that Steinway & Sons no longer belongs to CBS.
  • A new business entity is formed, named Steinway Musical Properties.
  • Together with Steinway & Sons, Steinway Musical Properties include the flute manufacturer Gemeinhardt Company, the harp maker Lyon and Healy, and the organ builder Rodgers. The total price of all four companies is $53,000,000, of which more than $40,000,000 have been borrowed from the Bank of New England.
  • Steinway Musical Properties are owned by Robert P. Birmingham (age 40), a former CEO of General Automatic Heating; his brother John P. Birmingham (age 43), a former securities lawyer, James F. Stone (age 45), a former senior Vice President at The Boston Company (pension fund management), and Bruce Stevens, a former international marketing director for Polaroid.
  • Bruce Stevens becomes the new president of Steinway & Sons.
  • Henry Z. Steinway and John H. Steinway remain with the company as “consultants”.