A few decades ago, most Chinese were in poverty, and wished to enjoy the prosperity they saw around them in Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea, countries taught by the U.S.
Until recently, all enterprise in China was government owned. There is a new middle class, and expanding wealth across all economic strata. Paralleling the explosion of piano manufacturing has been an astonishing shift in their economy. In nine years of traveling to China and participating in the development of piano manufacturing in that country, I have seen some amazing changes. The piano manufacturer willing to innovate stands a better chance of sustained growth over a longer period. While a piano manufacturer might rely on the timeless nature of music to extend the viability of its product for decades longer than would be possible in other industries, a geriatric status is not a healthy place to be. By contrast, the programs written for the earliest personal computers are now hopelessly obsolete in comparison to the current family of computer software. But the music of the old masters is just as viable today as are newer trends in music, and as welcome on the same stages of musical performance. This is not to say that the styles and standards of musical performance do not continue to grow and develop they do. One important reason for this is that the piano repertoire spans centuries, and is just as vital and timeless today as when the music was first composed. Few consumer-product companies can survive without making continuous efforts to expand the capabilities of their products - Ford wouldn’t have lasted long had it remained content with the Model T - but such stagnation often afflicts mature piano companies. To accurately describe the piano industry, we need to inject another phase between maturity and decline: for want of a better term, the geriatric phase. The piano industry, however, seems to be an exception. Emersonīetween the emergence and the decline of an industry come the more productive phases of growth and maturity, and to the extent that a company is willing to invest in adapting new technologies to its particular product, that company may move out of maturity into a new growth phase. Editor The Rising Quality of Mid-Range Pianos Is Crowding Out the High End by George F.
Following Emerson’s remarks are responses from representatives of several companies that manufacture “hand-built” pianos. Emerson - whose 48-year piano-industry career has included employment with Baldwin, Mason & Hamlin, and, most recently, Hailun - to comment on how globalization and the computerization of manufacturing have affected the piano industry, and whether there is still a place for expensive, “hand-built” instruments. P IANO BUYER asked veteran piano designer George F.