News

When the business world meets the music world!

Nov 23, 2015

NANTES, FRANCEOn November, 5th, the World Trade Center Nantes had the honor to host Franck-Alexandre HANLET, CEO of Pianos Hanlet and exclusive importer for the brand Steinway & Sons in Europe.

This gala evening included a conference led by Franck-Alexandre HANLET, a piano concert by VĂ©ra TSYBAKOV, a young Franco Russian pianist and ended with a networking cocktail dinner.

Franck-Alexandre Hanlet made a retrospective of the Steinway success story

Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg, born in North Germany, built his first string instruments at the young age of 20.

In 1836, he fabricated his 1st grand piano.

At the mid 19th-century, Henry E. Steinweg immigrated to the United States with his family and americanized his name to be known as Steinway.

Steinway & Sons was founded in 1853 by Henry E. Steinway and his sons in New York.

A few years later, in 1855, he won the 1st prize at the “American Institute Fair” in New York.

Franck-Alexandre Hanlet insisted on the originality of the manufacturing process: “Each piano is made up of 12 000 pieces, manually fit together.”

Franck-Alexandre Hanlet underlined the attachment to the product and the family spirit which lasts year after year.

“More than 596 000 Steinway pianos all around the world”

The keys to success are based on a good balance between traditions, innovation and discipline.

One of the reasons of this success story is the avant-gardist marketing strategy developed by Henry E. Steinway : first, he began to issue a large number of patents as soon as 1855 and he had also created an important and structured distributors network, not only in Europe but also in faraway countries such as South America, Asia …

What better way to conclude this gala evening than a collection of delicious pieces of music, played by a young artist on a Steinway piano !

Contact WTC Nantes - France:

WTC@nantesstnazaire.cci.fr