On June 21, 2018, Hollywood Piano marked its 90th year in business with a big celebration at their Burbank store, just outside of Hollywood. The event was hosted by Hollywood Piano’s president and CEO Glenn Treibitz and was a true Hollywood production, with a large tent outside of the store, complete with a Mexican buffet and cocktail bar. They even cleared space for guests inside the store by renting trucks that would house the company’s pianos overnight. In all, it was quite an undertaking, but as Glenn explains, “It was a lot of work, but ninety years, it comes only once!”
One of the many highlights of the evening was the presentation of the Pasadena Symphony and Pops Honorary Luminary Award, given to Glenn for his donations and support of the Symphony. Regarding the honor, seemingly not one to brag, Glenn modestly says, “It was very sweet.”
During the evening, letters of congratulations and praise were read from a wide range of public and community figures such as Quincy Jones, California Senator Dianne Feinstein, Congressman Adam Schiff, and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, just to name a few. These impressive accolades are likely due to Hollywood Piano’s relationship with, and charitable works in, the community. As Treibitz explains, “We always want to give back, so we’re always looking for ways to do what we do while helping the community. For example, in the area we live and work in, Burbank and Glendale, we have the largest Armenian community outside of Armenia. Several years ago, we thought about the large Armenian clientele that we have and wanted to find a way to give back. So, we partnered with an organization called the Armenian American Medical Association, who do a lot of projects in Armenia. We help them build clinics; we help them provide mobile diagnostic units and things like that. We really believe in being a good corporate citizen.”
Hollywood Piano’s non-profit, the Hollywood Piano Foundation, also presented their annual Heroes Award to Stevie Wonder and Mayor Eric Garcetti, who himself is a skilled pianist and music advocate. They also presented their first ever Founders Award, fittingly given in memory of Hollywood Piano founder Abe Tishkoff, who started the business back in 1928. The honor was accepted by Tishkoff family members.
Hollywood Piano continued to celebrate its 90th anniversary by offering discounts on their entire inventory through the month of July. Ninety years in business is quite a milestone. What will 100 be like? Glenn responds, “People have asked me that, and I just don’t know.” That’s fair enough – no one wants to be asked what they want for dinner after having an all-you-can-eat buffet for lunch.
In the meantime, Glenn and Hollywood Piano will continue to do what they do best – selling pianos, while trying to fill the gaps in the local music community. As Glenn puts it, “One of my goals with the foundation is to raise money to create piano music teaching labs in schools and maybe partner with a digital piano company and try to do it free of charge, particularly focusing on underprivileged communities. Not that I don’t love other instruments, but I want theses labs to be about pianos – that’s what I’m passionate about.”
