The Saga of the Haunted 1906 Steinway Grand Piano

(and the mystery of the missing John Philip Sousa signatures)

The Mystery Begins

Joe is a super guy. He is a fine piano technician and sells very expensive pianos out of his elegant shop in northern Colorado. He is a fifth generation owner of this established piano business. And, as is the case with most piano technicians I have known, conversing with Joe was interesting and conversation flowed effortlessly.

And so, we were swapping stories about this and that while Joe was evaluating my beloved grand piano that I was reluctantly having to sell due to an imminent move out of state. Joe had agreed to fix some minor cosmetic blemishes and to help me sell it on consignment at his piano shop.

As a long time Colorado resident, I have performed at many locations throughout the state. One location where I loved to perform and enjoyed returning to is Estes Park. Located in northern Colorado, Estes Park is known as The Gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park.

For several years, I was a featured performer at the beautiful and historic Stanley Hotel, located atop a picturesque hill overlooking the Estes Park Valley. A world famous hotel known for it’s many ghost stories, The Stanley served as the inspiration and setting for Stephen King’s novel, “The Shining,” - a distinction which gave the hotel a worldwide reputation for ghostly hauntings.

Some of my concerts at The Stanley took place in the Concert Hall - a separate building adjacent to the hotel - while others were held in the Music Room - a room in the hotel itself, located next to the main hotel building lobby.

The Concert Hall had a gorgeous 9 1/2 ft Bosendorfer Concert Grand Piano, which the hotel had acquired by trading one of their two historic Stanley Steamer cars - invented by hotel builder F.O. Stanley - in exchange for the Bosendorfer Concert Grand. Eventually, the hotel ran into financial difficulties, which unfortunately, required The Stanley to sell the Bosendorfer piano.

The lower level of the Concert Hall was used as a makeshift dressing room. In actuality, it was a cluttered unfinished basement that ran the length of the building, with exposed cement pillars and foundation walls, and construction materials and debris strewn about. It was inhabited by a resident artist, whom I could never quite figure out who he was and why he was there. Numerous canvases and multimedia works were strewn in disarray throughout the lower level. Many of these works were quite bizarre and macabre. This was all quite disturbing to me and did not help in my concert preparation.

Recently, I learned that the basement under the Concert Hall was haunted. And now that I’m thinking about it - was this person an actual living resident artist - or perhaps, a ghostly apparition? Hmmm.

The Music Room is a gorgeous and ornate room filled with white chairs and beautifully trimmed windows offering stunning views of the mountainous landscape. There, in the alcove area overlooking the Rocky Mountains and the 14,259 foot high Longs Peak, sits the antique 1906 Steinway Grand, which was purchased by Stanley for his wife, Flora.

Flora was an accomplished pianist and also penned her own music.
She loved to play her beloved 7 1/2 foot Steinway Grand - even after her death. Guests and staff often report hearing piano music coming from the empty Music Room, attributing this phenomena to the ghost of Flora.

The Stories are Told

Before each performance on this old grand piano in the Music Room, a story was told. The story went something like this:

“The beautiful Steinway Concert Grand Piano on the stage is one of the few remaining original pieces of furniture left in the hotel. It was a gift from F.O. to Flora on opening day. John Philip Sousa personally played and tuned the piano for several years. Each time he tuned the instrument, he carved his initials and the date on the inside. When the piano was recently restored, the technician proudly announced that he had successfully removed ‘all the chicken scratches’ from the interior.”

This version of the story is now posted on a plaque outside of the Music Room.

The conclusion of this story was always met with an audible gasp of shock and horror from the audience, to learn of the tragic loss of such valuable signatures from one of America’s greatest composers, “The March King” himself, John Philip Sousa.

And now back to Joe - As we continued reciting our stories, I decided to tell Joe about my performances at The Stanley Hotel and to share the saga of the John Philip Sousa lost signatures on the 1906 Steinway Grand Piano which preceded each performance held in The Stanley Hotel Music Hall. When Joe heard me tell this story, he stopped dead in his tracks, turned from evaluating my piano, and looked straight at me. He then said the following:

“I am the technician who worked on the Stanley Hotel piano!”

My eyes widened incredulously as I waited for what he was about to say next. Think about it. This was a story that was told to thousands of people when visiting the world famous Stanley Hotel - and Joe, apparently, was the villain who had ruined a treasured piece of the hotel’s history. What could he possibly say?

Joe continued.

“Those were not the signatures of John Philip Sousa.”

My eyes widened still more.

Joe went on. There was a hint of frustration and aggravation in Joe’s voice when he said the following:

“The signatures were those of a local piano tuner who had tuned the piano and had signed his name on the pin block.”

“Whoa!” I thought.

And then came the real kicker. According to Joe, the name of the local piano tuner who had signed his name on the 1906 Steinway Grand Piano in the Music Hall of The Stanley Hotel was - wait for it - John Sousa! (I’m not sure if this is the actual spelling of his name).

What?! Seriously? Well, that sure is a different story.

Which Story - Whose Signatures?

So, here in lies the mystery. Whose signatures were signed and removed from Flora Stanley’s 1906 Steinway Grand Piano?

Here’s what I know:

I know that John Philip Sousa definitely visited The Stanley Hotel in 1909, since he was the performer listed on Flora’s invitation for the Grand Opening. And Flora mentions in the invitation that Sousa would be performing on her Steinway Grand Piano in the Music Room (see photo). So, Sousa definitely played Flora Stanley’s Steinway Grand Piano.

And I also know that the 1906 Steinway Grand Piano was sent out for restorations. Since I had performed on this piano both before and after the restorations, I can say that I don’t recall hearing a story before my concerts, about John Philip Sousa tuning the piano and signing his name prior to the piano being sent out for restorations - only afterward. But wouldn’t the presence of his signatures alone still hold enough interest and history to tell audiences about this special piano? I would think so.

So, here then is the question. Was multi-talented John Philip Sousa, in addition to his being one of America’s most famous composers, the writer of many brilliant musical compositions, a multi-instrument player and performer, and a great conductor - was he also able to tune pianos? And would he?

Or, is this whole John Philip Sousa signature story just plain wrong, and the alleged famous signatures that were removed from the piano by our friend Joe when he restored Flora’s 1906 Steinway Grand Piano, were actually the signatures of another John Sousa entirely - one that was an actual piano tuner and just happened to live nearby?

But what are the odds of two John Sousas being associated with the same 1906 Steinway Grand Piano at the Stanley Hotel? Did Joe just make this up? If so, then where did his frustration and aggravation over the other story come from?

Or could both versions have elements of the truth that became conflated and distorted over time? I just don’t know.

But maybe one person does.

Someone will just have to ask Flora herself, the next time she shows up in the Music Room of The Stanley Hotel to play her old beloved Steinway Grand Piano.