Steinway’s first ‘Lang Lang’ branded piano

[Kent Swafford]

Steinway’s first ‘Lang Lang’ branded piano to benefit AIDS programmes  
in China




© UNICEF China/2007/Wang
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and renowned concert pianist Lang Lang  
introduces his new Steinway piano to the media in Beijing.
By Charles Rycroft

BEIJING, China, 25 April 2007 – UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and  
renowned pianist Lang Lang took time out from his busy concert  
schedule last week to launch his own branded line of pianos at  
Beijing’s main Steinway & Sons showroom.

Proceeds from the auction of the first ‘Lang Lang’ piano will benefit  
UNICEF’s programmes for young people affected by AIDS in China’s  
Yunan Province.

The piano was unveiled two days after the Chinese business community  
joined with young people, AIDS experts and activists, and government  
leaders at the first-ever Business Forum on Children and AIDS here.  
Forum participants discussed practical ways of incorporating children  
and families into corporate social responsibility strategies.

The meeting also marked the launch of a new guide on HIV/AIDS policy  
for corporations working in China. The guide has been developed by  
UNICEF China in partnership with the Australian National Committee  
for UNICEF, the Global Business Coalition on AIDS, Tuberculosis and  
Malaria, and AusAID.

Child-friendly instrument

Mr. Lang’s piano – which is designed to reach children in a new way –  
offers a model for an innovative partnership with a business, in this  
case the piano maker Steinway & Sons.

Speaking to the media, Mr. Lang remarked that pianos traditionally  
have been large in size and dark in colour, making them intimidating  
to young people. The new piano he has designed with Steinway is  
intended to encourage young people to take up the instrument at an  
early age.

Design elements include a reversible front panel that converts into a  
whiteboard, and a music desk that runs nearly the length of the  
keyboard to make musical scores easier to read. While demonstrating  
these features, Mr. Lang took a pen and wrote “I love UNICEF” in  
English on the whiteboard.

Realizing a childhood dream

"I cherished the dream of playing on a Steinway on the very day I  
began learning to play the piano,” said Mr. Lang. “It must also be  
the same dream for numerous children learning the piano nowadays.  
Although my dream came true when I was eight, I found that there was  
no piano specially designed for children.

“Now, with the help of Steinway & Sons, I have realized my childhood  
dream,” he added.

John Patton, General Manager of Steinway & Sons in China, expressed  
the company’s great appreciation of its partnership with UNICEF. This  
alliance began in 2004 with the presentation to UNICEF of a specially  
designed ‘Peace Piano’ carrying the flags of all UN member nations.  
Mr. Lang, then a newly appointed UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, went on  
to take that piano on a world tour.

Mr. Patton noted as well that Mr. Lang had the unique distinction of  
being a living artist with a Steinway piano named after him – a  
tribute to the artist’s outstanding contribution to the design.

The role of music

The ‘Lang Lang’ piano line will be priced at a fraction of the cost  
of a full-sized Steinway to make the instrument widely accessible to  
families in China.

UNICEF Representative to China, Dr Yin Yin Nwe praised the new child- 
friendly instrument. She stressed the important role of music in  
trauma and stress counselling, which she recalled witnessing  
firsthand while working with UNICEF in conflict and disaster situations.

To cap off the media event on a youthful musical note, Mr. Lang then  
played a duet on his signature piano with Huang Nansong, 13, the  
recent winner of the Steinway International Children and Youth Piano  
Competition.

Blue Chevigny contributed to this story from New York.





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