My Training and Experience
My Training
I was trained at the Fred Tremper School of Piano Technology in Maywood, IL, in 1982. My teachers and mentors were Fred Tremper and Alan Day, both of whom are RPTs and long time members of the Piano Technicians Guild (PTG). The course consisted of 10 hours training a week for 4½ months. Half of this time was devoted to tuning theory and practice, and half to repairs and regulation. After completing the class myself I assisted my mentors in teaching it for a year.
After tuning several hundred pianos, I took the Piano Technicians Guild tuning exam and passed it at the highest level possible. This tuning exam is very rigorous, and is the only standardized test to evaluate the skill of a piano tuner. Most people who advertise themselves as piano tuners have never even taken this test because they are too intimidated.
In 2006 I took and passed the rigorous PTG technical exam. Passing these tests earned me the designation of Registered Piano Technician (RPT).
I performed warranty work for Baldwin Pianos for several years in the Chicago area. In addition to tuning hundreds of pianos in customers' homes, churches and schools, I have also tuned for performances by Dave Brubeck, B. B. King, Lionel Hampton, Mandy Patinkin, The Chieftans, Roy Clark, Louise Mandrell, Steve Allen, and Mel Tormé, as well a dozens of other professional musicians while I lived in the Chicago area. I was the tuner/tech for the music school at Joliet Junior College (IL) for three years.
In the Rogue Valley, I am currently the piano tuner for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and I have tuned for Pink Martini and David Bromberg at Britt, as well as tuning at Oregon Cabaret Theater and for many local professional musicians.
I will be happy to supply references from teachers, musicians, and performance venues.