The Fry Gershwin Steinway Grand - One of a Kind - Steinway Piano Gallery of Naples

Traditionally, we focus most of our posts about the pianos we offer. To show proper respect to this Steinway, which has an amazing history and provenance, we feel it would be a shame not to share some of the story of its original owner, too.

Pinky Fry in St Petersburg, FL

Rhapsody in St Louis

By all accounts, “Pinkie” Fry was a remarkable woman. Active on the arts and social circuits in St Louis, she twice made the Olympic finals for the American diving team and was a talented painter and musician. She was also a close, personal friend of George Gershwin.

Yes, that George Gershwin.

Letters he wrote to his friend share his excitement at the success of his “new” opera Porgy and Bess and his hope she would come to New York to see it herself. He sent her the entire score in the “hope that you enjoy playing them.” In a handwritten note, the maestro tells Pinkie, “To get a baby girl and a baby grand at the same time seems to be to be the height of something…”

Your Steinway is ‘S Wonderful

We now know that baby girl was Judy, Pinkie and Benjamin’s first daughter, born on July 7^th, 1936.

“Seven is my lucky number. Even G.G. is seven, seven in the alphabet,” Gershwin revealed.

We also know that the baby grand was a Steinway & Sons Model A II, completed on June 8, 1936 after receiving a final inspection by the famous piano builder’s president, Theodore Steinway, which Steinway documented in a letter to Fry.

The piano was moved from the Queens factory to Steinway Hall in Manhattan where Gershwin selected the voicing and autographed the piano for his friend before it was shipped to St Louis on June 15 for delivery to the Fry’s Harris Armstrong designed home.

Gershwin taking such an active interest in the selecting and building of the Fry’s Steinway is extraordinary. Before leaving to work with his brother, Fred Astaire, and Ginger Rogers on the film “Shall We Dance,” George wrote to Pinkie, “I’m glad the piano pleased you so much. I was quite sure it would as it is very beautiful.” The December 12, 1950 edition of the St Petersburg Times reported that the piano was a gift from Gershwin, signifying how close the friends were.

The Fry Gershwin Steinway before restoration.

Do It Again – Restoring a Famous Steinway

Today, this impressive Steinway has been painstakingly restored – its aged action parts and strings replaced and Fiddleback Maple case lovingly repaired and refinished.

After removing the worn parts, the entire piano was disassembled, each piece stripped of the time-faded finish.

Mid-project with the action, plate, and case pieces removed.

The project took additional time due to the historical significance of the piano and the unique Maple finish. The action was rebuilt using genuine Steinway & Sons replacement parts. The plate was sandblasted and repainted for preservation. Extra effort was made to preserve the signature Gershwin made for his friend and goddaughter.

New strings, several tunings, voicing, and regulation were the final steps in getting this spectacular piano ready to Strike Up the Band once again!

There are only three known Steinway pianos that George Gershwin owned. Today, they reside at the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the University of Michigan, and the Library of Congress. That this one may have also been purchased and gifted by Gershwin is truly a testament to friendship and the generosity of a brilliant man.