Hood (active 1848–77) and John Stephenson (active 1848).
In Montréal, these included William Dennis (active 1834–53) Isaac Reinhardt (born 1808, died 1846) Thomas D. John Morgan Thomas was established in Montréal by 1832 and moved to Toronto in 1839, but it is not known when he began to build pianos.īy the 1840s, piano builders and companies were established in Montréal, Québec City, Saint John, Halifax and Toronto. Mead (Mead, Mott & Co.) was active in Montréal from about 1827 to 1853. One of the earliest builders was Frederick Hund, active in Québec City in 1816 and later in partnership with Gottlieb Seebold. Most of their time was likely spent tuning and repairing. The first builders in Canada - skilled British or German craftsmen - worked in small workshops with few assistants, producing probably no more than one or two pianos per month. Moreover, imported pianos, made primarily in Germany and Great Britain, reacted unfavourably to the Canadian climate. However, importing pianos from Europe was impractical because of the high cost of transporting such large instruments, and the risk of damage during long transport in damp cargo holds. In the early 19th century, demand for musical instruments increased with Canada’s growing population.
