Narratively

Narratively

Share this post

Narratively
Narratively
The Piano Mover
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
Secret Lives

The Piano Mover

Thirty-nine years and 50,000 instruments later, Carl Demler has been wrong exactly twice.

Brendan Spiegel's avatar
Brendan Spiegel
Sep 04, 2012
∙ Paid

Share this post

Narratively
Narratively
The Piano Mover
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
Share
Photos by Senait Debesu

Chau-Giang Thi Nguyen, a concert pianist and artist who goes by “Coco,” moved into a new Soho duplex this spring that offers a dream layout for any New York City musician. At the front of the apartment, a row of double-length bay windows stretches the height of both stories, pouring light into a hardwood-floor alcove just wide enough to accommodate Nguyen’s sleek black Steinway Model B grand piano—the perfect spot to sit and practice for her Carnegie Hall solo debut this fall.

However, as in so many seemingly perfect New York City apartments, there was one rather daunting hurdle standing in the way of her grand vision: stairs.

Many moving companies refuse to handle pianos altogether, afraid of being blamed for damaging an expensive instrument as it twists and turns through doors and across hallways, up and down creaky stairways, its hundreds of tiny, ancient parts jumping and jiggling around inside. Instead, movers will often decline to even touch a piano, simply …

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to Narratively to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Narratively, Inc.
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share

Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More