The decision of which piano to buy for you can be difficult. But buying a piano as a gift for a loved one or friend can be even mores daunting. This is especially true if the recipient is an advanced player who might have very specific preferences in an instrument. Here at Northwest Pianos we are very sensitive to these issues and have strategies to help our customers navigate them.
When you visit us just let us know if you are buying for someone else. We have a list of questions that will help us to recommend a piano that you can be confident your recipient will love. We can also help with arranging delivery if you want the piano to be a surprise. We can even arrange for the piano to arrive with a big red bow on it.
Every four years, Warsaw becomes the luminous heart of the classical piano world. The International Chopin Competition is more than a contest — it’s a global ritual of artistry and endurance. For pianists, it is the Mount Everest of performance; for listeners, it is two weeks of breathtaking musical devotion.
But while the audience follows the fate of each pianist, another drama unfolds behind the music — a quieter rivalry that has nothing to do with interpretation or emotion, and everything to do with sound.
Because in Warsaw, the pianists are not the only ones competing. The pianos themselves are.
One of the most exciting shifts in the piano world right now is the rise of battery-powered, portable pianos. Instruments like Roland’s GO:PIANO88 show that full-sized keybeds, high-quality sound engines, and wireless operation can coexist. Roland
Across the U.S., piano sales have taken a nosedive. A recent CBS News article reported that in 2024, only 17,294 pianos were sold — compared to hundreds of thousands in past decades. CBS News The reason isn’t lack of interest in music; it’s economics, cultural change, and preference shifts. Young people are renting, using digital subscriptions, or choosing digital pianos as introductory tools.