The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna is situated at the heart of European music and art. As a city renowned for its illustrious musicians like Mozart, Beethoven, Schoenberg, and many others, Vienna’s music school strives for excellence in all its activities and programs.
To this end, the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Wien (MDW) sought to acquire top-quality instruments for its students in 2023. The University needed three performance-level pianos: one for piano solo performances, another for art song interpretation as an accompanying piano, and a third for pedagogical and didactic use.
Manufacturers were invited to participate in the selection process by presenting one piano for evaluation and testing at the University. Four manufacturers responded: Bösendorfer, Bechstein, Blüthner, and FAZIOLI. While Bechstein offered the lowest prices, the University had predetermined that only 20% of the evaluation would be based on cost. Artistic value was weighted at 35%, with technical suitability and quality each accounting for 20%. Bösendorfer presented their model 214.
In respect to the technical suitability and quality, the University’s technicians, as was later revealed, found that FAZIOLI’s pianos held up much better than Bösendorfers and Steinways. Notably, Steinway did not participate in this high-profile tender due to internal issues.
After a thorough evaluation, the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Wien decided to purchase three FAZIOLI pianos, specifically the FAZIOLI 212 model. This purchase increases the FAZIOLI count at the University to eleven instruments.
We congratulate the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Wien on acquiring three FAZIOLI pianos and enhancing their collection with some of the finest instruments available in the world.
Piano manufacturing is, by its nature, a materials-intensive craft. A modern grand piano contains roughly 12,000 individual components. It requires carefully selected hardwoods — spruce, maple, beech, walnut — sourced from forests in multiple countries. It uses felt, leather, metal alloys, and chemical finishes. Building one well takes skilled labor spanning months.
In January 2026, the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas included something that would have seemed out of place a decade ago: a piano technology exhibit generating genuine buzz alongside the televisions, smartphones, and AI gadgets that dominate the show floor. The products on display — connected instruments, app-integrated learning systems, multi-device MIDI setups — weren't novelties. They were the direction the piano industry is heading.
For years, the piano world operated on a fairly clean division: acoustic instruments for those who could afford the space and maintenance, digital pianos for everyone else. That division has been eroding steadily, and by 2026, it has given way to something more interesting — a category of instruments that refuses to sit neatly on either side of the line.
