When we play the piano, sound waves are produced by the vibrations from the sound board. Leaving the lid down will generally keep all these beautiful sounds within the box – but since the low frequencies have a longer wavelength, they are better able to penetrate the casework than the higher frequencies. An absolute no, no is to put the lid down and play loudly! (23rd April 2025)

Hans Zimmer has composed for more than 150 films, including The Lion King, Gladiator, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Dark Knight, Inception, Man of Steel and Dunkirk. ITN television invited him along to Peregrine's Pianos and interviewed him in our Room 3 for a documentary that later was featured on The News at Ten. (20th March 2025)

Peregrine's Pianos were involved in the exciting inaugural concert of the Chromatica Orchestra today. The orchestra has the wonderful vision of nurturing the next generation of musical talent. Pictured at the Battersea Arts Centre are Kristine Balanas and Maren Bosma rehearsing Prokofiev's work for two violins (our piano in the background!) (8th October 2024)

We are very happy to offer a Special Schimmel Pianos promotion for a limited time. The factory fitted Twintone System will be supplied for free with either a K122 or C121T, and fitted at half price with W118T. This system enables the instrument to be played both acoustically and in silent mode through headphones. Come and see us now to place your order. (10th September 2024)

Peregrine's Pianos was pleased to again provide a Schimmel 280 concert grand piano for the Maidstone Symphony Orchestra performance last night; as ever playing under the expert baton of Brian Wright. Soloist Lyad Sughayer's magical performance of the Beethoven third Concerto was well received. (24th March 2024)

Since June last year Little Peregrine - the bright new home of preowned and hire pianos - has won the affection of many customers. Numerous high quality instruments, often at highly competitive price points, have left here for new homes. Also, our collection of upright and grand pianos is displayed here - and ready for events anywhere in London. (28th February 2024)

Our transport team has been out in the London traffic. Over the last seven days our pianos have gone out for music events into Battersea Arts Centre, The Stationers Hall, Morley College, Kings Place and the British Library. We have upright pianos and grand pianos in various sizes all available for event hire; concerts, shows and promotions. (30th November 2023)

The Aurora Orchestra (BBC Proms, Royal Albert Hall) attracted wide-spread acclaim for its performances from memory of the notorious The Rite of Spring (Stravinsky). The two concerts also included a staged introduction to the work for which Peregrine's Pianos supplied a Schimmel Event upright piano - something greatly appreciated by the pianist! (5th September 2023)

Peregrine's Pianos had the pleasure to attend the International dealers meeting in Kalisz, Poland and also Braunschweig, Germany on 11th to 14th June. We were kept informed of new developments in products and finishes, and shared experiences with about one hundred dealers from around the world. Barbara summarised the visit - read the full story here. (15th June 2023)

A capacity crowd, with many volunteering to present their music, attended the Little Peregrine Opening Party on Sunday. The afternoon included much discussion about the range of second hand pianos and was attended by special guest Annekatrin Förster. London's bright new home is now open for business! (5th June 2023)

Work has started on a new piano showroom on Grays Inn Road for Peregrine’s Pianos. The premises, previously a restaurant, are adjacent to the present building and will be called “Little Peregrine.” An event to mark the “Little Peregrine” project, attended by a capacity of over fifty customers and trades people, was held in Grays Inn Road on Sunday 5th February. (5th February 2023)

The Maidstone Syphony Orchestra (conductor Brian Wright) performed the Brahms First Concerto with Ariel Lanyi on Saturday at the Mote Hall. Peregrine's Pianos supplied a 280 Schimmel grand piano for the occasion. (28th November 2022)

The Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival (staged by The Royal Horticultural Society) is the world’s largest flower show. To compliment that wonderful experience with some music, the Society asked for one of our grand pianos! We think our piano (in the picture attached) looked just perfect in this setting: we were pleased to be involved in the event. (9th July 2022)

Peregrine's Pianos welcomed a massive filming team at the weekend: filming a scene through the night. The actor ambles up the dark street, sees a piano shop, stops and deliberates on the playing he did as a child, comes into the shop and sits at a piano... "Playtime" subsequently won awards in London, Paris and New York (13th June 2022)

Saturday saw a mesmerising performance of Rachmaninov’s 2nd Concerto which built in intensity as it proceeded. Hungarian pianist Daniel Lebhardt played with the Maidstone Symphony Orchestra and Peregrine's Pianos supplied the Schimmel 280 grand piano. (23rd May 2022)

The music room at St Paul’s Cathedral School is used for performances, examinations and voice trials. The piano here must be reliable and its tonal quality is highly important, and the Director of Music has selected a Schimmel Konzert K122E from Peregrine’s Pianos. Since Westminster Choir School also have a Schimmel piano from us we can truly invite all our customers to “Sing along with Schimmel!”  (26th August 2021)

After a long and very difficult year Peregrine's Pianos is pleased to welcome Trinity College back for a full day of music examinations tomorrow. Candidates tomorrow include clarinet, trumpet, flute, cello, oboe, classical guitar, piano and singing. This will be the first of a long summer season and is to be conducted with Covid-safe procedures in place. (25th June 2021)

A free bottle of Champagne with every piano sold during the month of September, to celebrate ten years of trading! Over the years, the business has not changed its core beliefs even through the difficult time of the Coronavirus pandemic. The staff at Peregrine’s Pianos are musicians committed to moving forward with the same sense of purpose. (3rd September 2020)

Peregrine's Pianos closed on 21st March. During the CoronaVirus shutdown new electric designer radiators, cupboards, storage facilities and an instantaneous hot water heater were installed. The rooms were reorganised and given a fresh coat of paint. Our administration was changed to paperless and the website was rebuilt. On reopening yesterday, all rooms are offered at half price. (16th June 2020)

Congratulations to Renée Zellweger on winning Best Actress award at the BAFTAs! Renée was here at Peregrine's Pianos for the vocal coaching involved in the making of 'Judy'. We very much enjoyed having her and are full of admiration for the hard work and commitment with which she undertakes her work. (4th February 2020)

The meeting in Braunschweig brought together several hundred dealers from around the world. Of course, we were all kept informed of developments at Schimmel pianos; and there was much socialising and sharing of ideas. Pictured is Dawn relaxing with Director of Marketing and Sales at Schimmel, Lothar Kiesche. (25th September 2019)

Wonderful article in International Piano Magazine - October 2019. International pianist Alberto Reyes played the entire range of Schimmel instruments at Peregrine's Pianos last month and music journalist Claire Jackson has woven his wise and honest observations into a very readable and interesting story! (20th September 2019)

Pianist Penelope Blackie, pupil of Vlado Perlemuter and finalist in an earlier Clara Haskil Piano Competition, presented a superb Classical recital of Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven and Chopin last night at the Holy Cross Church, Fulham; the piano was a K230 Schimmel supplied by Peregrine's Pianos. (8th June 2019)

We were delighted to welcome Elena Cobb's Star Prize Festival Teacher Training Day 2019 here at Peregrine's Pianos last week. The day included two workshops and a masterclass with the finest and best-loved piano teachers Vera Kameneva (Moscow), Tania Kozlova (Israel), and Irina Gorin (USA). (9th April 2019)

As a result of the strategic alliance announced two years ago by Schimmel and Pearl River a new piano has been born! The Fridolin range - designed in Germany and built in China - is the new entry-level instrument. The first piano arrived in our showroom today, and at a price point under £5,000 it is certainly worth getting to know. (1st February 2019)

Peregrine’s Pianos have supplied gleaming white grand pianos regularly for television (The Voice), for Mayfair’s art galleries, and for London-wide wedding receptions. What might be more interesting however, is that white piano sales have recently reached record levels with instruments sold to customers throughout London, in Huntingdon and in Brentwood. (25th June 2018)

Peregrine's Pianos hosted this event on 1st October for members of the European Piano Teachers Association. Speakers included Murray McLachlan, Christopher Norton, Linda Nottingham and Andrew Higgins. Dawn Elizabeth Howells talked about piano construction, and our subsequent video can be seen at Buying a Piano - a Question of Choice . (11th October 2017)

We were again in Braunschweig for a special Dealers' Meeting - billed as the forum for the introduction of new models and also to explain the new strategic alliance between Schimmel and Pearl River. A full report is in Our Story. (6th April 2017)

Concert pianist John Lill, President of the Maidstone Symphony Orchestra, performed Beethoven's stormy Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor on a Schimmel K280 supplied by Peregrine's Pianos on Saturday. (6th February 2017)

We commissioned Stephen Campbell (b 1985) - one of the new wave of exciting new artists currently working in Manchester - to paint our shop. Stephen painted "en plein air" on Grays Inn Road and created considerable interest in the process! As with many of his paintings, a new (distorted) perspective gives a fresh feel to our building. (4th February 2017)

The pianos in Scottish Opera's busy Glasgow production studios have to work hard, they are used for everything from Mozart to MacMillan! When the instrument in the largest studio came to the end of its life, Music Director Stuart Stratford, Head of Music Derek Clark and Repetiteur Susannah Wapshott, selected a 215 August Förster Grand Piano from us. (8th November 2016)

Auditions for new players were held in June this year in Hong Kong, New York and in London - at Peregrine’s Pianos; the second-round auditions were held in Hong Kong. Dawn later visited the orchestra playing today in the Hong Kong City Hall and is pictured here with the director of Orchestral Operations, Kenny Chen. Story here. (4th November 2016)

On the 25th and 26th October, Peregrine's Pianos took a group of customers to the August Förster Piano Factory, and to see some of the musical background in Dresden. "Absolutely Stunning" - "Unbelievable Skills" - "Amazing Experience" were some of the observations from the group. (31st October 2016)