Is Kennedy Center selling its Steinway pianos?

In October 2026, photos shared online appeared to show workers at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts moving Steinway pianos out of the Washington, D.C., center. The photos were accompanied by posts claiming the center was planning to sell all of its Steinways.

Because U.S. President Donald Trump — whose time as chair of the Kennedy Center Board has been tumultuous — announced in September that the facility had closed for renovations, the idea that the center was preparing to sell all its Steinway pianos seemed plausible to some online, and Snopes received several emails asking for a fact-check.

We contacted the Kennedy Center, the White House and Steinway and Sons for clarification on the matter. We heard back from the Kennedy Center and Steinway, both of whom provided statements disproving the rumor. As such, we rate the claim false. 

The photos posted online showed workers in hard hats moving grand pianos through the center’s hallways. One appeared to be wearing a shirt that said “Lewis” on it, which matched the name of a Washington-area piano moving company. We found no signs of generative AI or other tampering, meaning that the photos were real and the pianos were really being moved.

In its statement to Snopes and other outlets, the Kennedy Center said it was returning 16 leased pianos, not selling its collection. According to the statement, the center leases some of its pianos from a Steinway franchisee in northern Virginia who plans on retiring soon and is selling off his inventory. The leases on those 16 pianos, which were mostly located in “rehearsal rooms and dressing rooms,” are expiring as a result, the statement said. 

The center noted it was talking with Steinway’s corporate office, which is taking over the local franchise, about new contracts. It also noted center still has about half of its pianos on site, some of which it owns.

Steinway spokesperson Anthony Gilroy confirmed those facts in an email to Snopes. 

“The true story is that the owner of Steinway’s dealership for DC, Maryland, and Virginia is retiring and closing by the end of the year,” he said. “Sixteen Steinway pianos were leased by the Kennedy Center from that local Steinway dealer, who will be closing his store soon, and thus the pianos needed to be returned. That lease was done between the Kennedy Center and this local authorized dealer.”

The claim emerged during a chaotic two years at the Kennedy Center. Trump has treated the center as a pet project of sorts throughout his second term, installing himself as the center’s chairman and removing other board members, attempting to add his name to the center (a judge later ordered him to remove it) and closing the center for two years for repairs (then threatening to not complete those repairs unless his name is put on the building). 

For further reading, Snopes has covered numerous rumors about the Kennedy Center, including recent photographs of the president on Air Force One looking at a poster seemingly titled “Kennedy Center Demolition,” suggesting that Trump may be thinking of tearing down the building. 

Sources