We make it fun and easy to find the right piano!

Welcome to Steinway Piano Gallery of Madison, home of Your Piano Guy, Grant Billings. Locally owned and operated, we make finding the right piano a fun and educational experience.

Our site is one of the leading sources of reliable piano information on the web. You will find great resources here. If you are new to pianos, take a look at our Finding a Piano pages. If you already have a piano and are looking to take care of it, explore our Service & Moving area. And if you are simply a music lover, check out our Making Music section and the Calendar of Events.

If you are looking for a starter instrument or fulfilling a lifelong dream of having your very own Steinway, you will enjoy our friendly service and unbeatable selection of quality pianos. Enjoy our site and we look forward to seeing you in our gallery soon.

If you’d like an example of just so serious we are about great pianos, click the video on the left for a tour of our state-of-the-art piano rebuilding facility.

Visit our new Virtual Roland Showroom where you can see actual demonstrations and hear performances that will help you decide if a digital piano is right for you. Then, visit your source for quality piano – Steinway Piano Gallery – to experience Roland in person.

Steinway Piano Gallery's Grant Billings

Unlike the great Jimmy Stewart in the 1939 Frank Capra classic film, I went to Washington as an advocate instead of a senator.

Including myself, more than 30 NAMM Members took time away from their businesses and day-to-day schedules May 10-13 to travel to Washington D.C. and engage lawmakers in discussions about funding music and arts programs in public schools as part of NAMM’s annual Member “Fly-In.” It was truly an experience of a lifetime.

Our mission was simple; insure that Music and the Arts continue to be part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. While the legislation is often known as “No Child Left Behind,” NCLB was actually the name that Congress gave to the reauthorized and amended ESEA in 2002. The ESEA is supposed to be reauthorized every five years; yes, Congress is three years late.

Greg & Sara Billings, Sesame Street's Bob McGrath and Grant Billings

Activities kicked off on Monday with a reception honoring former MENC Executive Director John Mahlmann in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol Building which included special guests including “Sesame Street’s” Bob McGrath, “Funky Winkerbean” cartoon creator Tom Batiuk and representatives from GAMA, VH1 Save the Music Foundation, Music for All and MENC.

On Tuesday, the group underwent an entire day of training and briefings. Much of the events were streamed worldwide on namm.org, which encouraged questions from viewers via e-mail and Twitter. Later that day, the delegation took a trip to the Department of Education offices to take part in a press event featuring U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan outside of the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus.

"Let's face it—it is a fight," Education Secretary Arne Duncan (l) with former Secretary Richard Riley discussing keeping music and the arts in our schools.

“I’d like to thank all the students, teachers and NAMM for your passion in this area,” said Duncan. “We’re trying to put a lot of money around giving kids a well-rounded education—not just high school, but our 5, 6 and 7 year-olds too. I wish it wasn’t a fight, but let’s face it—it is a fight.  This is about giving these kids a chance to develop their skills, their abilities and their self-esteem. Together, we have to win this and win it for every single child in this country.”

Wednesday the delegates held more than 80 meetings on the Hill culminating in a special reception in the Capitol Building put on by NAMM, VH1 Save the Music Foundation and dosomething.org. The crowded roomful of NAMM delegates and Washington insiders listened to passionate remarks from GRAMMY-nominated singer Taylor Dayne and Journey keyboardist/songwriter Jonathan Cain about why music education matters to them.

Grant escorts special guest Taylor Dayne through the halls of the Capitol

“Miss Kyzowski, Mr. Dagan, Miss Edwards. 30 years later I can still remember their names because these people were three of the most influential people in my life,” said Dayne. “They were my music teachers and they helped me find my own voice.  My music teachers believed in me more than I believed in myself and music class was my safe place.”

"Music was my escape and my salvation," Journey keyboardist/songwriter Jonathan Cain

“In 1958, I went to a school that burned to the ground and 100 kids died. My way out of it was music,” shared Cain. “My father bought me an accordion after the fire and it became my best friend. And that’s what we have to remember when decisions are made to cut music classes out of schools.”

On Thursday, the delegates held their last few Congressional meetings and re-grouped for a final feedback session. When it was all over, each of us left Washington with a deeper understanding of these issues, positive energy, new friendships and a renewed passion shared by our industry to ensure every child has the opportunity to experience the powerful, proven benefits of music education.

For more information about the importance of music education, visit…

www.nammfoundation.org/music-research

www.vh1savethemusic.com

Or just get your child started in lessons.

Scott Robertson contributed to this blog.

]]> http://steinwaymadison.com/2010/06/01/mr-billings-goes-to-washington/feed/ 0 http://steinwaymadison.com/2010/03/08/pianoworks-for-adults/ http://steinwaymadison.com/2010/03/08/pianoworks-for-adults/#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:54:21 +0000 Jenn http://steinwaymadison.com/?p=1811

Presented by Paola Savvidou

Featured pianists include: Sonya Clark, Amanda Horn, Doug Jurs, Jonathan Kuuskoski, and Olivia Musat.

Featured dancers include: Lissa Erickson, Jamie Landry, Mary Patterson, Carolyn Pitterle, and Olivia Templin.

Seating is limited, please RSVP.

The celebration will begin on Saturday, March 20th from noon until midnight. The works of Johann Sebastian Bach will be performed until the stroke of midnight on March 21st, Bach’s birdhay. There may even be cake!

For more information, contact Cheryl Dring via email or call 608.890.2585.

Steinway craftsmen working on #L1037. Click the photo to see the movie trailer.

The Steinway Piano Society presents Note By Note: The Making of Steinway L1037 on Wednesday, February 17 at the Sun Prairie High School Auditorium.

A solo performance on a Steinway grand will follow the film.

The feature-length independent film follows the creation of a Steinway concert grand from forest floor to concert hall. The film explores the relationship between musician and instrument, chronicles the manufacturing process and illustrates what makes each Steinway unique in this age of mass production. “L1037″ refers to the case number of the particular Steinway the producers followed during the twelve months it took to build it.

Note by Note is a loving celebration of not just craftsmanship, but of a dying breed of person who is deeply connected to working by hand.

Admission is free. Donations will be accepted that night for The Steinway Project. The Steinway Project is a committee of representatives from Sun Prairie’s performing arts organizations, school parents, local piano teachers and area arts supports who are raising funds to purchase and maintain a new Steinway ‘D’ Concert Grand Piano for the Performing Arts Center in the new Sun Prairie High School. For more information, visit www.BPBF.org.

 

Follow the creation of a Steinway concert grand from forest floor to concert hall.  The film explores the relationship between musician and instrument, chronicles the manufacturing process and illustrates what makes each Steinway unique in this age of mass production.
Note by Note is a loving celebration of not just craftsmanship, but of a dying breed of person who is deeply connected to working by hand.

With the trade show coming up in a few weeks, it’s time for me to do some spring cleaning!

Madison’s best selection of Trade-ins, Demo Models, Rental Returns and Used Pianos will be drastically marked down, plus hundreds of other pianos available at special savings, making now the best time to make an investment you can feel good about… a quality piano from Steinway Piano Gallery.

One Day Only! Memorial Day 12-4pm

Click here to find driving directions to Steinway Piano Gallery

Join us at the beautiful Madison Club, 5 East Wilson Street. Admission is $10 per person. To attend, please RSVP at (608)237-7373 by July 27.