My goal is always to bring the best I can from the piano, in both sound and feel, within the limits of the instrument and the goals and finances of the owner. For the past 10 years I have evolved my specialization in what I term reconditioning, going beyond just tuning to get the best from a piano without major rebuilding or replacing parts. Most pianos have had little work done to maintain the mechanics of the piano, sometimes for many years. A few hours or a day spent returning the piano as closely as possible to how it was designed to operate can often transform the touch and dynamic control and restore lost musicality.
I was lucky to apprentice for 8 years with an old-school master technician who had run a high-end piano salon at one of the great San Francisco department stores and then retired to the relative quiet of Marin County. Later, I participated in two levels of in-depth training with Yamaha, including their Performance Piano Seminar, as well as advanced seminars with Steinway and Fazioli. I have been a Registered Piano Technician with the Piano Technicians Guild since 1984.
I have been fortunate to receive specialized training and to work on some of the worlds finest makes of piano, but I have seen and worked on every type and age of piano from the 1860s (A Steinway square grand brought around the horn to California on a clipper ship) to newly delivered instruments. While I have worked for a number of prestigious institutions, including the Colburn School and the California Institute of the Arts, I have practiced, and continue to practice my craft on performance instruments, inherited spinets and consoles, old uprights, and pretty much everything in between. I look forward to becoming an integral part of the artistic community here in Whatcom County.