William R. Steinway

Biography

William R. Steinway was born in New York on December 20, 1881, and attended St. Paul's school in Garden City, New York, graduating in 1899, after which he apprenticed as a piano maker in the Steinway factories. Turning to commercial work, he entered the counting-room at Steinway Hall in 1902 and remained there until 1908, when he was sent to open and manage the retail warehouse of Steinway & Sons in Hamburg, Germany. In 1909 he established the Steinway warerooms at Berlin, where he made his headquarters as representative head of all the European branches of Steinway & Sons in Berlin, Hamburg, and London, dividing his time among the three cities with occasional visits to New York. He is described as personally charming and magnetic, a capable pianist, well-read and fluent in modern languages, and above all an all-around businessman with a cosmopolitan grasp of commercial and financial conditions abroad; jovial and a gifted speaker, he was often called upon to preside at banquets. Steinway, son of the late William Steinway and elder brother of Theodore F. Steinway, was in charge of Steinway & Sons' European business in the generation following the firm's founders.

Highlights

• Son of William Steinway; elder brother of Theodore F. Steinway; in charge of the firm's European business
• Managed the retail warehouse of Steinway & Sons in Hamburg, Germany, beginning 1908
• Established the Steinway warerooms at Berlin in 1909
• Representative head of all European branches of Steinway & Sons (Berlin, Hamburg, London)

Source

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911), p. 312; Vol. II (1913), pp. 185, 186.

Public domain.