Biography of Bruce Dornfeld:
Bruce got the first piano to ever belong to his family when he was 16 years old. After hiring a local tuner, he sat down and listened to it and decided that he could tune it better than that. After studying William Braid White's Piano Tuning and Allied Arts and Alfred Howe's Scientific Piano Tuning and Servicing, he took on repairing and tuning his prized Story & Clark upright. While attending the Chicago Musical College, he got help from Nobumasa Fujiwara, RTT with repairs and watched him tune. After graduating and working in a laboratory for a few years, Bruce attended his first PTG Seminar in Michigan, and then left the full time job to begin his own piano service business. He timed it so he was still getting vacation pay while attending his first PTG Convention in Minneapolis in 1979.
When the Waukegan Chapter began in 1982, Bruce was introduced to Frank Lord and Dick Quint at the Washington DC Convention. They began the chapter and became Bruce's mentors, teaching the fine points of tuning and service. The weekly rebuilding sessions were part of his life for many years. Bruce was usually the belly man for the grands and also became a regular tutor for the chapter. Bruce served the chapter as Secretary, President, Treasurer, Newsletter Editor, and almost always as Delegate to Council.
Bruce has taught over thirty-five different classes over the years; he tries to teach something new from a fresh perspective each time. He has taught at the chapter level, seminars and the annual technical institute. His teaching includes writing articles for the chapter newsletter and dozens of articles that have been published in the Piano Technicians Journal.
In 1988, Bruce was elected as Regional Vice President and served two years in this position. Among his board's first decisions was to leave the professional management association who had served us for many years and to create our own Home Office. He then served one year as PTG Vice President. In 1991, Bruce was the first President elected to the Foundation who had not served as President of PTG. He was the first to serve a three year term. He created the board structure that allows for a larger board and one representing the PTG community more broadly. Under his leadership, the Foundation opened its first museum with its first tour while the PTG Convention was in Kansas City in 1994. He was elected one of the Foundation's Directors Emeritus that same year. In 1995, Bruce was named a Member of Note. For over twenty years, Bruce has been a regular participant in Foundation meetings and committees. Many years spent with the Publications, Museum and Scholarship Selection Committees have been very productive.