Wish I'd known about this concert

[Auburn Annie]

Piano woman helms music shop
(Posted Date: Friday, May 5, 2006)

By Karolyn Coorsh

Boasting an impressive 93 years as a Toronto-based business, piano restoration company Paul Hahn and Co. is a grand part of Toronto’s musical history.

Located in a historic building in Rosedale, the company was founded in 1913 by current owner Alex Hahn’s grandfather, the company’s namesake. When he emigrated from Germany in 1888, Paul was a cellist with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. He then worked for another piano restoration company before going solo.

Over the years, the small company has garnered a name for itself across the nation. Handwritten ledgers kept on the store’s bookshelf in Hahn’s office sit as testimonials to Paul Hahn and Co.’s history. In them are lists of various kinds of pianos, their prices and piano dealers, with many transactions dating back to before the turn of the century.

Eventually Hahn’s father, Paul Jr., took over the business in the 1950s and Hahn herself took hold of the ivory keys in the 1990s. She said that amongst her siblings (she is one of four daughters) she showed the most interest in the business and was "the only one willing to work Saturdays."

The piano industry in Canada has not been immune to the big-box chain phenomenon, but Hahn doesn’t see any need to follow suit.

"My idea is not to make this a huge company. It’s just to keep it a great small family business."

The nature of the piano restoration business requires a personal touch of quality and elegance, said Hahn, something that’s conspicuously absent in big-box stores.

"To get a really good new piano out there today you have to spend a lot of money, she said. "In my opinion you can get one of the greatest pianos ever manufactured at a very reasonable price when it’s been restored properly."

Hahn has reason to want to maintain quality excellence and craftsmanship. Some of the pieces in her small storefront showroom are more than a century old.

The basement of the store is where the real work takes place. A small team of technicians, tuners and a finisher restore a plethora of acoustic pianos including many manufactured in the 20s, 30s and 40s like Steinways and Heintzmans. The basement is a seemingly neverending maze of rooms, some filled to the door with pianos waiting to be rented or restored.

Although Paul Hahn and Co. has been around for almost a century Hahn doesn’t shy away from fresh ideas. Just this past year, the company began a series of live music events, called the Piano Bench series, in its showroom. Guests are invited to catch a short musical performance from notable local and international musicians.

"In December I got the guts to ask Gordon (Lightfoot) to come and he said yes," said Hahn. "It was like a dream."

She hopes that this new venture will bring in a fresh crowd of music lovers. "We were just trying to think of ways to get people to come through the door to create some energy and buzz."

Hahn is proud of her team, which she says is like family to her, and the hard work everyone puts into the business.

"I believe that by staying this size, in 100 years from now Paul Hahn and Co. might just be around, provided everyone wants to work Saturdays."

[Auburn Annie]

Piano woman helms music shop
(Posted Date: Friday, May 5, 2006)

By Karolyn Coorsh

Boasting an impressive 93 years as a Toronto-based business, piano restoration company Paul Hahn and Co. is a grand part of Toronto’s musical history.

Located in a historic building in Rosedale, the company was founded in 1913 by current owner Alex Hahn’s grandfather, the company’s namesake. When he emigrated from Germany in 1888, Paul was a cellist with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. He then worked for another piano restoration company before going solo.

Over the years, the small company has garnered a name for itself across the nation. Handwritten ledgers kept on the store’s bookshelf in Hahn’s office sit as testimonials to Paul Hahn and Co.’s history. In them are lists of various kinds of pianos, their prices and piano dealers, with many transactions dating back to before the turn of the century.

Eventually Hahn’s father, Paul Jr., took over the business in the 1950s and Hahn herself took hold of the ivory keys in the 1990s. She said that amongst her siblings (she is one of four daughters) she showed the most interest in the business and was "the only one willing to work Saturdays."

The piano industry in Canada has not been immune to the big-box chain phenomenon, but Hahn doesn’t see any need to follow suit.

"My idea is not to make this a huge company. It’s just to keep it a great small family business."

The nature of the piano restoration business requires a personal touch of quality and elegance, said Hahn, something that’s conspicuously absent in big-box stores.

"To get a really good new piano out there today you have to spend a lot of money, she said. "In my opinion you can get one of the greatest pianos ever manufactured at a very reasonable price when it’s been restored properly."

Hahn has reason to want to maintain quality excellence and craftsmanship. Some of the pieces in her small storefront showroom are more than a century old.

The basement of the store is where the real work takes place. A small team of technicians, tuners and a finisher restore a plethora of acoustic pianos including many manufactured in the 20s, 30s and 40s like Steinways and Heintzmans. The basement is a seemingly neverending maze of rooms, some filled to the door with pianos waiting to be rented or restored.

Although Paul Hahn and Co. has been around for almost a century Hahn doesn’t shy away from fresh ideas. Just this past year, the company began a series of live music events, called the Piano Bench series, in its showroom. Guests are invited to catch a short musical performance from notable local and international musicians.

"In December I got the guts to ask Gordon (Lightfoot) to come and he said yes," said Hahn. "It was like a dream."

She hopes that this new venture will bring in a fresh crowd of music lovers. "We were just trying to think of ways to get people to come through the door to create some energy and buzz."

Hahn is proud of her team, which she says is like family to her, and the hard work everyone puts into the business.

"I believe that by staying this size, in 100 years from now Paul Hahn and Co. might just be around, provided everyone wants to work Saturdays."

[charlene]

Hearing a piano in the Lightfoot tunes performed in Port Hope at the Trib show made me wish Lightfoot utilised a piano more often. It's been a long while since I saw him in concert sit at the piano....

must have been quite a show at the Hahn house!

I have a piano that's about 100 years old- made in Toronto too-family company - Heintzman.....
hmmmm...
maybe I should see if Gord would like to do a house concert here in Whitby!
lol

[charlene]

Hearing a piano in the Lightfoot tunes performed in Port Hope at the Trib show made me wish Lightfoot utilised a piano more often. It's been a long while since I saw him in concert sit at the piano....

must have been quite a show at the Hahn house!

I have a piano that's about 100 years old- made in Toronto too-family company - Heintzman.....
hmmmm...
maybe I should see if Gord would like to do a house concert here in Whitby!
lol