Grand piano presented to the White House in 1903. Smithsonian Institution During the terms of Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909), White House musical events became a major, regularly scheduled feature of the mansion’s social life. Many innovations took place: the first program by a famous concert pianist; the first musicale devoted to a single opera; the first performance on a clavichord; and the first East Room piano–a fine concert grand from Steinway & Sons presented to the White House in 1903. The world’s greatest pianists from Josef Hofmann to the legendary Ignacy Paderewski were invited to perform for the Roosevelts, and instrumental music reached further heights with the Kneisel Quartet, the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, and the new Washington Symphony Orchestra. One of the most distinctive programs of the era, however, was that of the twenty-eight-year-old Spanish cellist, Pablo Casals, who played on January 15, 1904. More than a half century later, Casals would perform again in the White House for President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy. Elise Kirk, Musical Highlights from the White House, 88-93.