CX Series

1902 Production of grand pianos begins

Production of grand pianos began just two years after Yamaha started the manufacture of upright pianos. The combined efforts of many craftsmen went into creating the first grand pianos ever made in Japan. The following year, a Yamaha grand piano was awarded the grand prize at the 6th Domestic Industrial Trade Fair held in Osaka.

1950 Release of the FC, Yamaha’s first concert grand piano

A year after its released in 1950, Adolf Baller played the FC on a tour of Japan with world-famous violinist Yehudi Menuhin, and in 1953 German maestro Walter Gieseking played the FC in front of the Emperor of Japan at the Imperial Palace. Wilhelm Backhaus also played the FC when he came to Japan in 1954, in a performance that earned the FC recognition as a truly world-class piano.

1967 Release of the C Series grand pianos and the CF concert grand piano

Yamaha exhibited the CF concert grand piano at "Frankfurt Messe," a musical instruments trade fair held in Germany. The beautiful tone of the CF earned it acclaim from piano experts, and it was subsequently adopted for use by renowned piano maestros and at international piano competitions. In 1969, Sviatoslav Richter, one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century, played the CF at the Menton Music Festival and at performances in Italy, and continued to use it thereafter.

1983 Release of the CFIII concert grand piano

In spite of the praise the company was receiving around the world, Yamaha continued to strive to achieve better sound, an effort that resulted in the release of the CFIII concert grand in 1983. The CFIII went on to be selected for use at some of the world’s best-known piano competitions, winning praise from many top-flight pianists.

1991 Release of the CFIIIS concert grand piano

Yamaha had reached a total of 5 million pianos produced.
In 1998, Denis Matsuev played a Yamaha CFIIIS concert grand piano when winning the 11th International Tchaikovsky Competition.
This victory on one of the most famous stages in the world cemented the reputation of Yamaha pianos as superb instruments.

2010 Release of the CF Series concert grand pianos and the flagship model CFX

A full 19 years after the release of the CFIIIS, Yamaha presented the CFX, which combines the results of Yamaha's many efforts to develop the finest pianos in the world. This is a piano with the ability to project to the furthest reaches of any concert hall the beautiful, ringing tones of its delicate pianissimo, as well as its powerful, resonant fortissimo.
In October of 2010, Yulianna Avdeeva played a CFX to victory at the 16th International Chopin Competition, one of the oldest and most prestigious piano competitions in the world, gaining instant acknowledgement for the exquisite quality of this new piano.

2012 Release of the CX Series

The CX Series of grand pianos embodies a more defined philosophy with regard to sound creation, as well as the new technology and know-how that Yamaha has acquired in its long history of crafting pianos. With the ability to transform any space into a concert hall, these instruments represent an evolution for the piano that is wholly appropriate to Yamaha’s 125th anniversary.