Hailun Blog

Hailun® Pianos on Display at the Pacific Northwest Spring PTG Regional Conference, March 4-7, 2010

The PTG Pacific Northwest Regional Conference, hosted in the Bellevue Washington Hyatt Regency Convention Center, offered a prime opportunity for technicians and teachers to become familiar with Hailun Pianos. Many attendees had the opportunity to play, hear and inspect the H1 upright and the HG 161 grand. Built by the Chinese manufacturer Chen Hailun, these instruments are quickly becoming the recommended choice in their individual markets. "Comments from technicians and teachers visiting the hall were very positive," said Terry Winstead, "I heard many technicians stating how well built these pianos are. Both teachers and technicians like the sound of the instruments and thought that they were priced just right for the market."

Hailun Piano Chief Scale Engineer, Frank Emerson, Addresses Calgary and Fort Worth Chapters of the Piano Technicians Guild. According to storeowner and host of the Calgary monthly meeting, Brian Schmidt, "The meetings were very well attended and Frank Emerson’s presentations were well received." George F. Emerson, informally known as Frank Emerson, is a thirty-seven year Registered Piano Technician and an official member of the Piano Technicians Guild. The first fifteen of those years were spent as a full-time technician at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana and privately tuning and servicing pianos. The last twenty-two years have been dedicated to piano manufacturing as an engineer and piano designer. His design work includes new models, from consoles to concert grands, for Baldwin, Wurlitzer, Mason & Hamlin, and now Hailun.

As a designer for Hailun Pianos, Emerson was recently awarded the Friendship Medal, China's highest honor to foreign experts.
Calgary PTG Chapter President, Christopher Gregg, commented on Emerson's visit. "The man is very knowledgeable and spoke about good ideas and concepts about key weighting. The information Mr. Emerson shared with us is very good and helpful." To the less experienced attendees, Mr. Emerson's command of technical language and designing concepts was enlightening. In addition to providing good information about pending patents and the future of piano design, Mr. Emerson demonstrated his willingness to remain in touch with the market. The casual exchanges between meeting participants and Emerson added value to the meeting.

Regional PTG meetings were hosted by Plano, Texas Encore Pianos where Mr. Emerson spoke about the future of piano design.

Over the past couple of years Hailun Pianos has worked in cooperation with the Piano Technicians Guild (PTG) to develop a vertical action model. This model is made to exact specifications required for the vertical regulation section of the PTG Technical Exam. Some of the features include three keys, adjustable hammer rail, correct action ratio, functional sustain and soft pedals, string target, and case parts. These models may be master regulated for exam use and are also excellent for training purposes and retail display.

After an initial production run, some modifications were requested by the PTG. Recently at the Hailun factory, Frank Emerson, chief designer for Hailun, and Mike Carraher, technical consultant, had several meetings with Hu Jianping, production supervisor for vertical pianos. Jianping, also known as Bill, oversees the project and personally assembles all the action models. When asked about the lengthy process of producing these models, Mike Carraher replied, "Early delays with this project were the result of poor communication. Coming here to the factory and meeting face to face with Bill, we are finally able to work as a team to make sure all the changes are correct. We look forward to a continuing relationship with Bill and other key people at the factory".
These models are available for purchase directly from the Piano Technicians Guild at www.ptg.org . Hailun USA appreciates the opportunity to partner with PTG on this project and looks forward to future endeavors.

In April 2010, the Hailun USA technical team visited the Hailun Piano factory in Ningbo, China. The goal was to train the factory to meet the specific needs of the North American market. How do consumers make a purchase selection? How do piano dealers prepare instruments for sale? What do service technicians expect? When the factory better understands the needs of consumers, dealers, technicians – everyone benefits. The centerpiece of this “sensitivity training” was a demonstration of how American and Canadian piano dealers prepare new instruments for sale. Hailun technical consultants Mike Carraher and Keith Bowman presented the training with the assistance of Hailun Service Manager Eric Zehr. Beginning with an upright piano in the shipping box – the piano was unboxed, set up, and carefully inspected for cosmetic issues. Next, structural components were examined: key and action parts were checked for alignment, action regulation was checked, and damper system, pedal system and hardware were all inspected for proper function. This procedure was then repeated on a grand piano. Each piano was subjected to a complete checklist. Through interpreters, they explained what they were doing, and why. When appropriate, additional comments were made to emphasize important points.

All department heads and assistants, in all about 30 people, attended the presentation, which was videotaped for training purposes. It gave the Hailun employees an opportunity to see the piano after it leaves their factory, from the perspective of North American technicians and dealers. As a result of this visit, factory supervisors have a better appreciation of the North American markets and the needs of the dealers. They now understand how to prepare a piano and what the ideal “look”, “feel” and “sound” are to be in our showrooms.

Hailun USA Participates at 2010 National PTG Convention

Vienna International Inc. announces that Hailun USA will participate in the upcoming Las Vegas PTG Convention held on June 26-29, 2010 at Bally’s Hotel & Casino. Attending will be Hailun USA CEO Basilios Strmec; Sales Representative, Lauren Wallace; Service Technician, Eric Zehr; and Technical Consultants, Keith Bowman and Mike Carraher. Paula Thompson, Operations Manager, and Patti Wood, Accounting Manager will also attend. Hailun USA is anxious to greet everyone and show the outstanding Hailun Pianos that will be on display. Several of the Hailun Pianos will also be used in classrooms.
Hailun USA, an affiliate of Vienna International, is a strong supporter of the PTG offering various programs and services throughout the US and Canada. Hailun USA is offering a door prize at the opening ceremonies.

Plan to attend this year Las Vegas PTG and be our guest!

Vienna International Inc. announces that Hailun USA will participate in the upcoming Las Vegas PTG Convention held on June 26-29, 2010 at Bally’s Hotel & Casino. Attending will be Hailun USA CEO Basilios Strmec; Sales Representative, Lauren Wallace; Service Technician, Eric Zehr; and Technical Consultants, Keith Bowman and Mike Carraher. Paula Thompson, Operations Manager, and Patti Wood, Accounting Manager will also attend. Hailun USA is anxious to greet everyone and show the outstanding Hailun Pianos that will be on display. Several of the Hailun Pianos will also be used in classrooms.
Hailun USA, an affiliate of Vienna International, is a strong supporter of the PTG offering various programs and services throughout the US and Canada. Hailun USA is offering a door prize at the opening ceremonies.

Plan to attend this year Las Vegas PTG and be our guest!

Hailun unveils new professional upright pianos for discerning and advanced players. According to U.S. legendary piano engineer George Emerson:  “I designed the new HU-6 upright piano for the discerning pianist who requires an instrument with the touch and sound of a grand piano. This piano is engineered in the American tradition and is equipped with a true sostenuto pedal.”

The HU-6, which is 52” in height, sets a new standard of advanced craftsmanship in the construction of upright pianos. With the sound, the action and the overall feel that one might expect from a grand piano, the HU-6 meets all of the technical and musical requirements for any institutional or professional setting.

As chief Scale Designer and Lead Engineer with thirty-two years of experience in the American piano industry, George Emerson has received the highest honor China presents to foreign experts for helping advance the development of craftsmanship and technology.  Emerson was one of only 50 foreigners out of 485,000 experts in China to receive the 2008 China Friendship Gold Medal.

The HU-6 made its U.S. debut at the NAMM 2010 in Anaheim, California, January 14-17, 2010.

Announced and to be released soon is an Hailun upright piano designed by Carl Zheng (China). Both pianos are positioned towards advanced and discerning piano players.

On the Saturday before the opening of the Music China Fair in Shanghai, a multinational team of piano designers is crowded around a hand-carved piano at the Hailun Piano factory in Ningbo, 175 miles to the south. The special edition concert grand with its images of Chinese landscapes carved in rosewood will be the centerpiece of Hailun's exhibit at the show. Voicing specialist Sibin Zlatkovic is making his final adjustments to its exposed strings while the rest of the team looks on.

"We did this kind of work at Bösendorfer," says Basilios Strmec, an Austrian who is now president Hailun USA. "This is a gorgeous piano, all hand-carved. It took 19 months to build".

The showpiece piano represents a first step into the luxury piano market for Hailun, whose mid-priced instruments have taken hold throughout North America and Europe as well in as the domestic Chinese market. Last year the brand received worldwide exposure in the form of a red lacquered grand piano built for ceremonies in the run-up to the Beijing Olympic Games.

After the Music China Fair, Hailun's hand-carved concert grand, called Dreams of the East, sold to a Chinese businessman for $347,000.

Hailun's goal is to build into a global brand that is recognized for its quality and its acceptance among serious musicians in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. We intend to focus on continually improving the quality of our instruments both in production and musicality- and remain an innovative company. An important part of our brand goal is to extend open arms to musicians and develop a visible artist program. Ultimately, Hailun wants to reach out and be able to serve the stages of concert halls and recording studios with instruments that stun musicians and music connoisseurs of every musical persuasion.

Take an on-line tour of Hailun Piano Factory. Located in the city port of Ningbo, the Hailun factory benefits from the industrial climate of coastal China. It is the center of a superb transportation system feeding the city via one of the worlds deep seaports, a high-speed rail service, and a 37 km bridge to other major Chinese and Pacific centers.

The factory consists of 430,000 square feet of production, assembly, and office space.

An acoustic piano consists of more than 5,000 single parts. The selection of valuable raw materials, quality processes, and perfect combination of traditional craftsmanship with CNC (Computer Numeric Control) machines characterize the very successful special manufacturing procedure.