July 30, 2025
Steinway & Sons has officially named Ross Margitza as their newest Steinway Artist. Margitza serves as Lecturer in Jazz Studies and Jazz Piano at the University of Texas at Austin. An award-winning performer, he has shared the stage with renowned artists such as Russell Malone, Jon Faddis, Phil Woods, and Christian McBride. His credits include performances with the Gerald Wilson Orchestra, as well as international appearances in Japan, Spain, Colombia, and major U.S. cities. He holds degrees from Michigan State University, Northern Illinois University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Texas at Austin.
Margitza’s journey as a jazz musician began in a uniquely musical household. Both of his parents were professional jazz pianists based outside of Detroit, Michigan, where live performances were a regular part of home life.
“I was fortunate because we always had live music in the house,” Margitza said.
At the center of that musical upbringing was a rare and elegant Steinway Model 15, a hand-carved walnut piano built in the Louis XV style, featuring ornate molding, curved legs, and a scalloped lid. Inspired by the refined aesthetics of 18th-century France, the instrument is considered a collector’s dream find.
The story behind the piano is as remarkable as the instrument itself. According to Margitza, his father was performing one night when a woman approached him after the show.
“She loved his playing and had a piano that she didn’t need,” Margitza explained. “He went to go look at it and came home with it the same day.”
Ross Margitza plays one of two Steinways in his studio at the Butler School of Music
Margitza began playing that Steinway at around four or five years old. While he quickly developed a love for the piano, he also discovered a strong passion for the trumpet. But as his performance opportunities grew, others increasingly saw his future behind the piano.
“My phone just kept on ringing, and every call I was getting was for piano,” he said. “Nobody was calling me to play trumpet anymore. ‘Can you make this gig?’ Sure, for piano or trumpet. ‘You play trumpet? I didn’t even know!’”
Starting in his junior year of high school, his father began officially booking him for piano gigs, often double-booking himself and giving the lower-paying job to his son. This led to countless hours performing in hotel lobbies and restaurants.
This resulted in lots of gigs playing jazz piano for hours at a time in hotel lobbies or restaurants in what he calls "musical wallpaper,” Margitza recalls. “This was the ideal circumstance to learn how to play,” he recalled, because it forced him to play a lot of jazz in front of an audience.
As a professional jazz musician, Margitza became accustomed to playing on a wide variety of pianos at different venues. Unlike classical pianists, who often have access to well-maintained Steinways, jazz players are usually at the mercy of whatever instrument the club provides.
“You can’t take your instrument with you,” Margitza said. But this constant variety gave him the ability to compare other instruments to Steinways. He relates it to cars, saying, “When you’re younger and you get that Ford Escort, you know, a starter car, then first time you drive a Mercedes or Lexus, there’s a difference.”
He continued, “To me, Steinways, with the craftsmanship and the way they are designed, they are thinking about the nuances of the instrument. With Steinway, it’s not just the sound but also how easy it is to play.”
Ross Margitza practicing on a Steinway at the Butler School of Music
While he has played many high-quality pianos, Margitza says Steinway remains his top choice for its reliability and consistency.
“When you go to a gig and there is a Steinway there, there is a sigh of relief, because there is a 99 percent chance it is going to be a great instrument, unless someone wasn’t taking care of it. But even a Steinway that has not been taken care of is usually better than another brand.”
Now, as a Steinway Artist, Margitza still has that same Steinway Model 15 in his home. His two children, ages 2 and 5, will soon begin playing on the very piano that once inspired Ross. Maybe 35 years from now, there will be two more Steinway Artists—both shaped by the same instrument. You could say they are a Steinway family.