"A great piano, with a big and extremely beautiful sound . . . incredibly gorgeous . . . a truly fantastic instrument for a living room, but also a great performance piano in any hall."  

Emanuel Ax (Concert artist)

"Glorious; absolutely glorious . . . It speaks so quickly and sustains incredibly . . . powerful and brilliant, yet effortless to play softly and beautifully . . . it is an instrument that reaffirms my love-affair with the piano."  

Garrick Ohlsson (Concert artist)

" . . . a great piano [with] a superb action, a huge range of colour, remarkable clarity and a beautiful, lyrical tone . . . expressive and remarkably reliable in the pianissimo range . . . a wonderful surprise."  

Angela Hewitt (Concert artist)

"It was an extraordinary experience, performing on this beautiful instrument from late in Liszt's lifetime . . . My Liszt program is a tremendous test for a piano, and it passed with flying colors . . . My thanks; the piano was marvelous, beautifully prepared and a joy to play!"  

Jeffrey Siegel (Concert Artist; Presenter of Keyboard Conversations®)

" . . . a rare and exceptional discovery, and one of the most extraordinary concert instruments I have ever played. Tonal beauty, a responsive action, and unlimited power are the things a pianist looks for in great Steinways, and Mr. Lidstrom’s have all that and more."

Jeannie Yu BM, MM (The Juilliard School, ABD Peabody Institute of Music)

"A true Steinway genius, Mr. Lidstrom’s pianos are simply wonderful . . . Not since the years following WWII at Steinway in London have I played an instrument with such perfect response and control."

Frank Glazer, Professor Emeritus, Eastman School of Music; Artist-In-Residence, Bates College, Lewiston, Maine

"Mr. Lidstrom’s Steinways are the very finest I have played. [They are] unusually responsive to touch, offering brilliance and power while allowing an extraordinary control of the pianissimo range . . . They exhibit a wonderful combination of resonance and clarity, and their color and dynamic capabilities are enormous."

Clara Park, DMA (Yale University School of Music)

"What can I say? The piano is so fabulous I have no words. It can do anything--everything. It almost plays itself." 

Tadeusz Majewski (Artistic Director, The Chopin Society of Minnesota)

"The precision and response of the actions, and the wide range of tonal colorings and pedaling capabilities are unparalleled: Mr. Lidstrom consistently produces Steinways that outperform all others."

Kim Craig, MM (University of Minnesota School of Music); Faculty member, Carleton College and St. Paul Conservatory

"Mr. Lidstrom's restored Steinways are two of the very finest pianos we [with pianist Fred Hersch] have sat down to."

Christopher O'Riley (Concert artist; host of 'From the Top' distributed by Public Radio International)

". . . the most gorgeous tone, from a healthy, robust fortissimo to a subtle, velvety pianissimo . . . [his] regulation and voicing of instruments is perfection plus . . . I can say without hesitation that Mr. Lidstrom’s concert Steinways are among the finest I have played in North America."

Jane Solose, DMA (Eastman School of Music), Associate Professor of Piano, Conservatory of Music, University of Missouri, Kansas City

"Mr. Lidstrom’s restored Steinways are remarkable works of art. They are exceptionally beautiful, their spectrum of sound is vast, and their touch is any pianist's ideal. His work is simply magnificent."

Curtis Stotlar, MM (Juilliard School), Faculty member, Wisconsin Conservatory of Music

"Mr. Lidstrom’s Steinways invariably sing with the greatest eloquence. They are beautiful, true and resonant, with amazing warmth, richness, power and delicacy."

Martin David Jones, DMA (Peabody Conservatory) Assistant Professor of Music, Augusta University, Augusta, Georgia

" . . . Joel Lidstrom's piano restorations are instruments of uncommon artistic beauty and pristine craftsmanship.  The sound is pure and unalloyed, the mechanism is fluid and consistent, and the visual beauty of the pianos is aesthetically pleasing.  His work merits serious consideration by individuals and institutions who are searching for the right artist/technician for future piano restorations."

Jay Hershberger, DMA (Arizona State University), Assistant Professor of Music, Concordia College, Moorhead, MN

" . . . elegant cabinetry, an endless array of tone-colors, perfectly balanced dynamics, and actions that allow effortless control. Nuances and effects that are achieved with difficulty on most instruments are easily realized on his; they seemingly have limitless potential . . . they define a new standard of excellence for pianos."

Mary Ellen Haupert, DMA (Washington University, St. Louis)

"Mr. Lidstrom . . . has uncompromising standards, and sacrifices no effort or time to achieve his desired level of perfection . . . I am convinced that [he] is among the top piano artisans in his profession."

Pamela Kelly, DMA (University of Maryland)

"I have played many Steinways that Mr. Lidstrom has restored. Each is magnificently regulated, voicing from one register to another is so smooth as to be imperceptible, and their finishes approach perfection."

Dorinda Hawk, MMA (University of Southern California)

"Joel Lidstrom's restored pianos, with their wonderful range of color from the bottom note to the very top, are an absolute delight. The [Wisconsin Conservatory of Music] Model ‘D’ Steinway, having been in the saddest condition, has become one of the two or three best pianos on which I have ever performed . . . The restoration of the Bösendorfer, which had been reduced to almost-firewood status, is nothing short of miraculous."

Stefanie Jacob, MM (Indiana University), Faculty member, Wisconsin Conservatory of Music

"Unbelievable; simply unbelievable. I have never played a piano this extraordinary."

David Worth, DMA (Cleveland Institute of Music), Assistant Professor of Music, Concordia College, Moorhead, MN