Steinway Artist Jason Moran To Perform On New Steinway Spirio At La Biennale Di Venezia On May 6

Moran’s Installation, STAGED, Explores Two Pivotal Periods in American Jazz

Steinway & Sons announced today that acclaimed jazz pianist, MacArthur Fellow and Steinway Artist, Jason Moran, will perform on the new Steinway Spirio player piano at La Biennale di Venezia (Venice Biennale) on May 6 at the contemporary art exhibition’s Arsenale venue. The performance will showcase the Steinway Spirio’s remarkable playback capabilities, as well as Moran’s world-renowned artistry as a performer, composer, and multidisciplinary artist.

As part of his participation at the 56th International Art Exhibition at the Biennale, which is entitled "All the World’s Futures", Moran has created STAGED, a three-dimensional, free-standing sculptural installation that reconstructs architectural elements of the Savoy Ballroom and the Three Deuces, two legendary New York City jazz venues that were home to some of the greatest jazz performances of their day. During the run of the Biennale (May 10 through November 22), a limited number of live performances by Moran and his band, The Bandwagon, are scheduled.

In STAGED, the dynamic tension created by the positioning of the two stages is critical. The Savoy wall confronting the Three Deuces stage embodies the face-off of two different eras of American jazz: the 1930s swing era with the 1950s bebop period. Visitors will walk between these two separate but related musical spaces, while a series of old and new songs play from both, underscoring the labor of the musicians who enlivened these original contexts and situations. The high-resolution Steinway Spirio will play a central role in the installation, providing audiences with an acoustic musical experience that brings the work to life even when Moran is not present.

According to Michael T. Sweeney, CEO of Steinway & Sons, "While Steinway & Sons created Spirio to provide a concert-quality, in-home experience for consumers, we have been gratified to see that Artists like Jason Moran are so confident in Spirio's reproducing exactitude that they are incorporating Spirio on stage. The Venice Biennale marks the public debut of the Steinway Spirio, and no one should be surprised that Jason Moran is the pioneer bringing this instrument to life." Adding, "Through Steinway Spirio, audiences will feel the full range of emotion and soulfulness that Jason intended."

Steinway Spirio, the world’s finest high-resolution player piano, was officially introduced in April 2015, and is available exclusively on select Steinway grand pianos, in select markets. A masterpiece of engineering, Steinway Spirio provides the unrivaled musical experience that Steinway’s customers expect, producing the most accurate reproduction of live performances ever achieved on a Steinway & Sons piano. Delicate pedaling, subtle phrasing, soft trills, and thundering fortissimos present no difficulty for Steinway Spirio. Damper and keyshift pedaling are replicated with unparalleled accuracy, following the pianist’s depressions and releases smoothly and precisely.

About Steinway & Sons
Since its founding in New York in 1853, Steinway & Sons has been considered the world's premier piano manufacturer. Known for their exceptional craftsmanship, Steinway & Sons pianos are built in one of two company-owned and operated factories: Astoria, New York and Hamburg, Germany. Steinway & Sons pianos are still constructed primarily by hand, using many of the techniques developed over 160 years ago. Today, Steinway & Sons also offers the Boston and Essex piano lines, Listen, a magazine for music and culture lovers, and the Steinway & Sons record label. For more information, visit www.steinway.com.

Press Contact:
Anthony Gilroy
Director, Marketing & Communications
Steinway & Sons
+1 (718) 204-3116
agilroy@steinway.com