The Saga of the Haunted 1906 Steinway Grand Piano (and the mystery of the missing John Philip Sousa's signatures)
Flora Stanley’s 1906 Steinway Grand Piano in The Stanley Hotel Music Room
The Mystery Begins
Joe is a super guy. He is a fine piano technician and piano restorer and he sells very expensive pianos out of his elegant shop in northern Colorado. He is a fifth generation owner of this well-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.
A little background info - As a long time resident, I have performed at many locations throughout the state of Colorado. 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, and is a very popular tourist destination. Once inside the park, summer travelers can drive on the top of the world on Trail Ridge Road. Unaccessible for much of the year due to extreme ice and snow, Trail Ridge Road is the highest continuously paved road in the Continental United States, offering amazing views of the Continental Divide.
For a number of years, I was a featured performer at Estes Park’s 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 due to all of the spirited hauntings from the formerly living residents.
Some of my concerts at The Stanley were held 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 hotel lobby.
The Stanley Hotel Concert Hall
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. When the hotel ran into financial difficulties, the owners, unfortunately, felt compelled to sell the beautiful Bosendorfer piano, so consequently, all of my future concerts at The Stanley were to be held only in the Music Room.
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 full length of the building. Exposed cement pillars and foundation walls contrasted sharply with the elegant spaces above, and the room itself was rife with construction materials and debris that was scattered all around in disarray.
Somewhere in all of this mess was an artist studio. 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 about in random chaos throughout the lower level. Many of these works were quite bizarre and macabre. This was all quite disturbing and unsettling to me and did not help in my pre-concert preparation.
Recently, I have learned that the basement under the Concert Hall is haunted. When it was renovated many years later, the construction worker refused to work at night - professing to some scary otherworldly activities purported to be taking place in the lower regions of the Concert Hall. And now that I’m thinking about it, I’m wondering - was this strange and mysterious artist person occupying the basement area of the Concert Hall, an actual living resident artist, or perhaps - a ghostly apparition? Hmmm.
The Music Room, is a gorgeous and ornate room filled with decorative chairs and beautifully trimmed white 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 F.O. Stanley for his wife, Flora in 1909. While the room has now been renovated and converted into a bar, it was formally the location where many concerts were held over the years, beginning with John Philip Sousa, the American composer.
Flora Stanley herself, 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 own demise, we are told. Guests and staff often report hearing piano music filling the air of the empty Music Room, attributing this unsettling phenomena to the ghost of Flora communing with her treasured Steinway.
The Two Stories of the John Philip Sousa Signatures
And now, here is the reason why I have written this story. Before each performance on this old grand piano in the Music Room, the host would tell a story to the souls gathered, about the history of the 1906 Steinway Grand Piano. 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.”
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. This version of the story is now posted on a plaque on the wall outside of the Music Room.
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 sad saga of the John Philip Sousa lost signatures on the 1906 Steinway Grand Piano which preceded each performance held in The Stanley Hotel Music Room. When Joe heard me start to tell this story, he stopped dead in his tracks and interrupted me. He suddenly turned away from evaluating my piano, and looked straight at me. He then said the following:
“I am the technician who restored 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. They weren’t John Philip Sousa’s signatures?? “Then, whose signatures were they,” I wondered?
Joe went on. There was a hint of frustration and just a touch of aggravation in Joe’s voice as he said the following to me:
“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 Room of The Stanley Hotel was - wait for it - John Sousa!
What?! Seriously? John Sousa?** Well, that sure is a different story from the one being told at The Stanley.
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 we know:
We know that John Philip Sousa definitely visited The Stanley Hotel in 1909. He was the performer listed on Flora Stanley’s invitation for the Grand Opening musical performance and Flora mentions in the Grand Opening invitation that John Philip would be performing in the Music Room on this very same Steinway Grand Piano, recently purchased for her by her husband, F.O. Stanley (see photo of invitation). So, we also know that John Philip Sousa definitely played the newly purchased Flora Stanley Steinway Grand Piano, as well.
In addition, we know that many years later, the 1906 Steinway Grand Piano was sent out for restorations. Joe confessed that he was the one who had restored The Stanley piano. And we know that there were indeed signatures on the piano - (those of a local piano tuner, according to Joe) - since Joe attested to that fact. We also know that the supposed Sousa signatures were removed by Joe during the restoration of the piano, since they were not there after the piano was restored, and the technician (Joe) is quoted in the Stanley narrative as having removed “all the chicken scratches.”
Interestingly, since I had performed on this piano both before and after the restorations were made, I can say that I don’t recall hearing the host introduce my concerts with the shocking story about John Philip Sousa tuning the piano, and carving his name (or initials) on the interior, prior to the piano being sent out for restorations - only afterward. But wouldn’t the presence of Sousa’s signatures on the piano be of enough historical interest to tell audiences about this very special piano that was connected to such a great American composer, anyway? I would think so. So why only mention the Sousa signatures on the piano after the restorations were made and not also before?
And here then is another 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-instrumentalist and performer, and a great conductor - was he also able to tune pianos? And if so - did he tune this piano? There is indisputable evidence that he played this piano, but only the story of the lost signatures in The Stanley narrative attesting to the idea that he had also tuned this piano and carved in his initials.
Flora Stanley’s invitation to the Grand Opening of The Stanley Hotel
John Philip Sousa - performing on the Steinway Grand Piano
Or, is this whole story about the lost signatures of John Philip Sousa 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?
Here are my own thoughts on the matter- for what it’s worth. If John Philip Sousa had tuned Flora’s beautiful and beloved Steinway Grand Piano, would he deface the finish by “carving” his name or initials and date into the wooden interior. I mean, this was a very expensive and treasured gift from F.O. to his wife Flora on the auspicious Grand Opening of the brand new Stanley Hotel. And the typical location for a piano tuner to sign a piano is not somewhere on the wooden interior, but is where Joe had suggested - on the pin block. On the other hand, what are the odds of two “John Sousas” being associated with the same 1906 Steinway Grand Piano at the Stanley Hotel? Could Joe have made up this story? That would be a very creative and interesting way to deflect any self guilt. Or was it true?
But, if Joe did destroy the real John Philip Sousa “chicken scratch” signatures, why would he even tell me and point a finger at himself as the culprit in this notorious event in the first place? I would not have otherwise suspected or connected him to Flora’s Steinway Grand. Perhaps, he was just frustrated and aggravated because the other story of the signatures was being told at The Stanley, so he took the opportunity to tell an alternate version. Still, I have been unable in my search thus far, to find a piano tuner in the vicinity of The Stanley Hotel who is named Sousa, or even one with any other spelling of that name. But that was about 30 years ago. So he could be long gone. Then again, there are individuals in northern Colorado who are named “Sousa.”
So then, where does this leave us in the pursuit of the truth in this grand mystery? I just don’t know - but I would side with Joe.
But maybe there is one person who does know the truth - a possible witness.
Someone will just have to ask Flora herself, the next time she shows up in the haunted Music Room of The Stanley Hotel to play her old beloved Steinway Grand Piano.
* For continuity of the story line, I will mostly refer to the JPS initials as “his signature.”
** (I’m not sure if this is the actual spelling of the piano tuner’s last name)