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Pearl River Piano Group

The Pearl River Piano Group (广州珠江钢琴集团有限公司) is China's largest piano manufacturer and has the largest piano
factory in the world producing more pianos than any other factory.[1] The company was established in 1956 in Guangzhou,
Guangdong, China. Pearl River is capable of producing over 100,000 pianos a year, and exports them to more than 80 countries.
Today Pearl River pianos are manufactured under a wide range of brands and levels. Each of these series have similar sizes with
different scale designs, materials and vastly different sound.

In January 2016, the company took over 90% of the shares of Wilhelm Schimmel, a German piano manufacturer in Braunschweig.[2]
This purchase and collaboration is pushing the company to even higher levels of quality and tone.

Operations in Germany remain unchanged and the Schimmel factory is still managed by the Schimmel family
.

Contents
Certifications
The Pearl River name
Other instruments
Ritmuller
O.E.M.
Connections with Yamaha, Steinway, and Hallet Davis
Yamaha
Steinway
Hallet, Davis & Co.
References
External links

Certifications
In 1998, Pearl River became the first piano company in China to receive International Standards Association ISO 9001 Certification
(ISO 9001) for its complete line of grand and vertical pianos, including all parts and components.[1] ISO 9001 Certification is
awarded by an independent auditing organization, following a lengthy audit of quality systems, ranging from the procurement of raw
materials to manufacturing systems, assembly procedures, and customer service. Pearl River also recently was awarded ISO 14001,
which is similar, but relates to environmental standards. Pearl River is the first manufacturer in Chi
na to receive this award.

The Pearl River name


Pearl River ran a company-owned US distribution until 2000, when they turned the distribution over to North American Music. Pearl
River was one of the first Chinese piano companies to market pianos in the United States under its own company name and have
been well accepted by piano teachers and tuners.

Other instruments
Pearl River is also one of the world's largest guitar and violin manufacturers, and is a primary supplier for the popular "First Act"
brand of guitars commonly found at Target stores among others. The company also sells drums, brass, and woodwind instruments
internationally. In the People's Republic of China, they produce guitars with theown brand name, "Kapok Guitar" (红棉).

Ritmuller
Pearl River hired piano designer Lothar Thomma to create the new Ritmuller lines.
Eventually Thomma had designed or helped design both of the Ritmuller series of
pianos, Performance and Premium. The company says that the Lothar Thomma-
designed Ritmuller pianos feature European scale designs and use high end
European components, and smaller, slower production to allow more hand-finishing
work. Some of the differences between Pearl River and Ritmuller include the
Thomna designed lower tension German scales, piano felt from Filzfabrik Wurzen
GmbH in Germany, Roslau higher level (than Pearl River brand) German strings,
real Ebony wood sharps in place of plastic sharps and Abel German hammers in the
Performance Series and Renner German Hammers in the Premium series. The
Performance series also has a different action design, different rim design material
spec and a great deal more hand work reflecting its position as the finest piano the
company builds.

Ritmüller piano made by Pearl River


O.E.M. Piano
Three large retail piano companies in the US use Pearl River as their OEM entry
level house brand supplier: Jordan Kitts Music, Sherman Clay(now closed), and
Schmitt Music. These three retail chains use their own brand name (Henry F Miller, Christofori) on the front of the pianos and in a
couple of isolated cases feature slightly different specifications than the Pearl River brand models distributed by North American
Music.

Connections with Yamaha, Steinway, and Hallet Davis

Yamaha
Yamaha formed a joint venture with Pearl River in 1995 to establish a factory to build pianos for the Chinese market. This factory is
east of Guangzhou in an "economic development zone", approximately 35 miles from the Pearl River factory. This factory produced
two models for the Pearl River Piano Group: the UP125M1 and the Ritmüller UP126R. Ritmüller brand pianos sport upgraded
cabinetry, a different plate, upgraded felt and several different scale designs. Both product lines were marketed in the United States
by retail piano stores and had additional branding to the side of the keys reading made by "Y
amaha Pearl River".

Steinway
Pearl River also manufactures all models forSteinway & Sons' "Essex" brand piano line, including grand pianos and uprights, in their
factory in Guangzhou. On May 1, 2005, Steinway & Sons and Pearl River Piano Group jointly announced an agreement. The
companies began developing several new Essex models, which Steinway & Sons designed for affiliate company Boston Piano Co.,
Inc. The piano line reached the marketplace early in 2006. It was Steinway's first venture in China, and Pearl River's first OEM
relationship with a Western piano maker.

Hallet, Davis & Co.


Hallet, Davis & Co. Boston (H&D), is a piano line commonly referred to as Hallet &
Davis or H&D. The original Hallet, Davis & Company was formed in Boston in
1843 by George H. Davis, Russell Hallet, and other partners, but dates back to 1835
due to the Hallet production line. It was reconstituted by Davis with another Hallet
(Benjamin Franklin Hallet) in Boston in the 1850s[3]. The W. W. Kimball Company
acquired Hallet & Davis in the early 20th century
.

In the mid-twentieth century, the Hallet & Davis name, as well as many other U.S.
piano brands, were consolidated under the Aeolian-American Corp., which declared
bankruptcy in 1985.

The Pearl River Piano Group has produced the H&D line since 2014. Prior to 2014
the name was made by the Dongbei Piano Co. For a while the line consisted of
pianos from both makers at the same time. The H&D line is considered slightly
better than the Essex pianos due to similar composition and at better cost, with both
produced by Pearl River.
Hallet Davis Signature Series 6 ft
2 inch Grand Piano—the largest
The Signature Series for a while was made simultaneously by both Pearl River
Hallet Davis piano in regular
Group or Beiijing HsingHai Musical Instruments Corporation depending on model
production
and size of both uprights and grand pianos. The largest grand piano in regular
production is 6 ft 2 in (a 7-foot Signature Series Grand Piano is available upon
special order) The Imperial Collection is made with ornate woods and finishes.

References
1. Pearl River (http://www.pearlriverusa.com/pr_story.html) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20090827120335/htt
p://www.pearlriverusa.com/pr_story.html) 2009-08-27 at the Wayback Machine. Pearl River Pianos's USA site.
Retrieved on September 29, 2007.
2. Hompeage of Noerr company, retrieved on 2016-02-27 (http://www.noerr.com/en/press-publications/PressReleases/
noerr-advises-chinese-pearl-river-group-on-strategic-collaboration-with-schimmel-pianos.aspx)
3. Clinkscale, Martha Novak (1999).Makers of the Piano, Volume 2: 1820-1860. New York, NY: Oxford University
Press. p. 169. ISBN 0198166257.

External links
http://www.pearlriverusa.com
http://www.steinway.com/essex
https://www.forbes.com/global/2002/0513/040.html (article about Pearl River on Forbes.com)
http://www.halletdavispiano.com

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This page was last edited on 31 May 2018, at 01:23(UTC).

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