Sohmer & Company Piano Company
Founded in 1872 by immigrant Hugo Sohmer in New York City, the company was owned by the Sohmer family for 110 years. During Sohmer & Co.'s many years in New York, they held a close relationship with another New York Piano maker, Steinway. During those years, brothers Harry or Robert Sohmer personally inspected each piano and signed each one "has approved".
In 1982 the company was sold by brothers Harry and Robert Sohmer and moved to Ivoryton, Connecticut where Sohmer & Co. Pianos was under the new ownership of Pratt, Read and Co., the leading manufacturer of piano keys and actions in the United States. The result of the new ownership was production of a piano that was considered to be the finest in America.
Currently, the Sohmer piano is manufactured by the largest piano company in the world, the Samick Music Corporation (SMC), who also makes other famous piano names such as Bechstein piano, America's Wm. Knabe piano, and the Conover-Cable and Hazelton pianos.
Sohmer & Co. consider their pianos to be "All-American", utilizing the same basic methods and specifications that were used when Sohmer was located in New York, but each piano is made by hand at one of the famous piano factory owned by SMC in Korea . They manufacture both Sohmer vertical (upright) and grand pianos. The Sohmer Model 34 vertical is one of the most popular models and has been in demand for over 50 years.