Kennedy Center Sells Off Its Steinway Pianos as Closure Bites

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is selling off its Steinway grand pianos, instruments valued at roughly $187,000 to $246,900 or more when new, according to reporting by Sarah K. Burris of Alternet, confirmed by Slippedisc.

The pianos were seen being moved out of the shuttered arts centre earlier this week, a development Slippedisc first reported when the instruments were spotted in transit. Burris has now confirmed the full scope of the removal.

"Steinway told me that they're moving them all over to the Georgetown showroom where the owner is also selling his pianos at a high discount because he wants to retire," Burris told Slippedisc. "When I asked Steinway why the Kennedy Center would be selling all of their Steinways, she said 'Well, they're closed.'"

Photos shared in the Alternet report show Lewis Piano Movers handling the transportation of the grand pianos from the building.

The Kennedy Center has run used Steinway piano sales in previous years, which prompted Alternet to contact the Washington D.C. Steinway dealership — a staffer identified as Jenny — to ask whether such a sale was taking place again this year. It is not. Jenny explained that the annual event would not happen because the Kennedy Center had closed.

The dealership's owner, she said, intends to retire and shut the shop, and is therefore selling all of his own pianos at a heavy discount. With the Kennedy Center closed, the shop is also moving all of the centre's Steinways to offer them for sale.

Asked directly why the Kennedy Center would need to sell everything, Jenny repeated the same answer: the institution was "closed." She referred all further questions to the Kennedy Center itself.

The valuations come from Burris's Alternet reporting, which puts the pianos at approximately $187,000 to $246,900 or more if purchased brand new. The instruments involved are Steinway grand pianos, long the standard bearer of concert halls worldwide.

The disposition of the Kennedy Center's concert instruments marks one of the most tangible signs yet of the institution's shutdown, turning working performance assets into discounted retail inventory at a Georgetown showroom facing its own closure. With the Steinway dealership referring questions back to the Kennedy Center and no explanation offered beyond the fact of the closure, the question of what becomes of the centre's other performance assets now hangs over the building.