M. Steinert & Sons announces the recent sale of a one-of-a-kind Steinway & Sons grand piano to philanthropists Brian and Kathy Stevens of Marlborough, Massachusetts. The “Walden Woods” piano, an art case Steinway & Sons Model D concert grand created to commemorate the legacy of author and naturalist Henry David Thoreau, will be used by the Stevens family to raise awareness and generate support for a number of non-profit organizations close to their hearts, including Special Olympics of Massachusetts and the Special People Special Needs Foundation. The purchase marks the first time the Walden Woods piano will reside in a private home.

The piano was originally commissioned in 2007 by the Walden Woods Project, an organization spearheaded by musician Don Henley to help preserve land near Walden Pond in Concord. Artist Silas Kopf designed the piano, which incorporates wood indigenous to Walden Woods and other areas of New England. Kopf created twelve marquetry plaques featuring local flora, as well as a marquetry portrait of Thoreau and a long frieze with an excerpt from Thoreau’s famous book Walden: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” Adding to its value, the piano was signed during a benefit concert by Billy Joel, Elton John, Emanuel Ax, Dave Brubeck, Herbie Hancock, Bruce Hornsby, Evgeny Kissin, and Barbara Nissman.

The Stevens are well-known philanthropists with a special interest in music, film, and popular culture. They cultivate and develop projects that draw interest and enthusiasm from musicians, artists, filmmakers, and children in order to attract like-minded people to events and fundraisers. In addition to the Walden Woods piano, the Stevens also curate exhibit-level art pieces and curiosities to cheer and entertain children suffering with illness or disability.