The Cliburn owns three concert grand Steinways, housed in Bass Performance Hall, that are used for Cliburn Concerts and during the quadrennial Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
The American Steinway was selected by Van Cliburn for the opening of Bass Performance Hall in 1998 from the Steinway Concert Department in New York City. Considered one of the best Steinways in America, it has gone through three competitions and 14 seasons of Cliburn Concerts. Over 25 competitors have chosen to compete on this piano, including 2001 Gold Medalist Olga Kern, 2001 Co-silver Medalists Maxim Philippov and Antonio Pompa-Baldi, and 2009 Gold Medalist Haochen Zhang.
The Hamburg Steinway was selected in 2004 from the Steinway Concert Department in New York to complement the Cliburn's American Steinway. It has gone through two competitions and eight Cliburn at the Bass seasons. The Hamburg was a great favorite during the 2009 Competition, selected by 13 of the 30 competitors, including Gold Medalist Haochen Zhang for his Final Round, and Finalists Evgeni Bozhanov, Mariangela Vacatello, and Di Wu.
Charles Ball has been taking care of the Cliburn's pianos for several years. Based in Austin, he makes the three-hour trek to Fort Worth twice a year to make sure they remain in good shape. For the rest of the concert season, Steve Wilmoth works with artists to keep them tuned and in good shape.