#Cole Porter’s Steinway makes a splash for charity

The non-profit Jazz at the Ballroom is hosting a “Holiday In” virtual benefit show Friday, Dec. 4, to support their organization and the Actors Fund, hosted by Emmy-winning NY1 reporter Frank DiLella and Kathryn Crosby, the 87-year-old widow of Bing Crosby.

One of the performances was filmed with American icon Cole Porter’s Steinway & Sons 1907 grand piano, gifted to him by the hotel — on which the legendary composer/songwriter created some of his most famous songs — like “Night and Day,” “You’re the Top,” and “Anything Goes” when he was a longtime resident of the Waldorf Astoria, living in a palatial suite on the 33rd floor for nearly 30 years.

The piano is currently housed in the residential sales gallery for The Towers of the Waldorf Astoria until the hotel re-opens.

In the 1970s, Frank Sinatra lived in Porter’s suite, and was rumored to pay $1 million a year for the privilege.

Cole Porter’s piano recently underwent a significant restoration by Steinway & Sons at their factory in Astoria.

The master technicians replaced the soundboard of the piano, which had been a mainstay in the hotel’s lobby for decades, and focused on the smallest details, including reattaching the plaque on the piano that reads “Some of the loveliest songs in America’s musical history were composed on this Steinway.”