American firm of instrument manufacturers and music dealers. Founded in 1864 in Chicago by George Washburn Lyon and Patrick Joseph Healy as a Midwest outlet for the publications of the Boston company of Oliver Ditson, the firm rapidly expanded to include retail distribution of music from publishers and musical instruments of all types. Under Healy’s direction (Lyon retired in 1889) the store became widely known in Chicago and throughout the USA for its broad range of merchandise and advanced advertising and selling methods. It was one of the first businesses in the USA to appraise instruments. From about 1890 the firm used the marque ‘George Washburn’ for its better fretted instruments. In about 1928 the trade name and activities other than piano and harp manufacture were acquired by the Tonk Bros. Co., which continued to sell instruments under the name into the 1930s. Tonk Bros. was acquired by C.G. Conn in 1947.
As an instrument manufacturer, the firm is best known for the Lyon & Healy harp, first placed on the market in 1889. Healy was interested in developing a harp that would be better suited to the rigours of the American climate than the available European models, and his engineers, basing their instruments on Erard’s pedal harp, succeeded in producing a harp notable for its strength, reliability of pitch, and freedom from unwanted vibration. When Wurlitzer stopped producing harps before World War II, Lyon & Healy remained the sole large-scale harp builder in the USA. Other contributions made by Lyon & Healy include innovations in the style of the instrument, notably the modern Salzedo model of 1935, and the development of a small, lever harp, the Troubador, in 1962.
In 1977 Lyon & Healy was bought by CBS, which at the time also owned Steinway. Under CBS, Lyon & Healy decided to focus exclusively on harp production and music publishing. Following this decision CBS closed all Lyon & Healy retail stores in 1979, and the name of the firm was changed to Lyon & Healy Harps. In 1985 Steinway Musical Properties (SMP), a Boston-based holding company, acquired Lyon & Healy Harps. In 1987 SMP sold Lyon & Healy to a Swiss-based holding company, Les Arts Mechaniques, which also owned the European firm Salvi Harps. The two firms then worked together, with two distinctive lines of pedal and lever harps. In 1990 pianos began to be sold under the Lyon & Healy name again, the firm carrying a European-made model.
In the mid-1980s the firm brought out the Folk Harp and in the mid-1990s the Prelude, both being lever harps. They introduced the Electric Harp in 1993, which emits an electronic signal designed to emulate the sound of the acoustic harp. A combination instrument, the Electro-acoustic harp, was introduced in 1997.
Lyon & Healy is also identified with several international harp competitions. The company donates the first prize (a concert grand harp) for the Israel Competition and the USA International Harp Competition held in Bloomington, Indiana. In addition, they sponsor the biannual Lyon & Healy International Jazz and Pop Harpfest held in the USA.
J.B. Weidensaul: ‘Lyon & Healy: the First 90 Years’, American Harp Journal, vii/2 (1979), 5–9
Lyon & Healy Letter (1986–)
S.A. Turnbow: ‘Coming of Age: the Electric Harp’, American Harp Journal, xiv/4 (1994), 12–13
L. Howie: ‘Loud & Clear’, Harp Today, i (1997), 11–17, 42
ANNETTE FERN (with JAY SCOTT ODELL)/JOAN LAUREL FERGUSON