Pearl Piano begins with Wayne Chen, whose great-grandfather founded the first piano-building company in China.  After apprenticing with his grandfather for ten years, Wayne won the post of chief technician at Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.  In 1987, he was invited by Steinway & Sons to continue his training at the factory in Hamburg, Germany.  Afterwards he traveled to the United States to work at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra where he maintained both the pianos and repaired string instruments for members of the orchestra. Wayne worked simultaneously at ProPiano Company in New York City, during which time he rebuilt concert grands for both the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

Wayne came to Toronto in 1993 and started Pearl Piano in 1994 to realize his dream of rebuilding his own pianos along with then partner and fellow technician Gunter Manchen. Throughout the 90s and early 2000s, Wayne was the technician at all the major concert venues in Toronto including Massey Hall, St. Lawrence Centre, and the Toronto Centre for the Arts. Since his father’s passing in March of 2022, Carey, who had been working with Wayne since 2008, continues to serve teachers, pianists, and concert artists from around the world as a fifth-generation technician.