David Andersen

 

Co-presenting the All-Day Seminar

David has been a professional musician, recording artist and piano technician/consultant for nearly four decades. He has been involved in the restoration and maintenance of hundreds of Steinway and Mason & Hamlin pianos during that time. Beginning in 1975, he apprenticed for two and a half years under Jack Cofer in Atlanta, Georgia; during the 1980s he studied at Steinway facilities both in New York and London.

 

After moving to Southern California in 1981, David worked extensively with Sherman Clay, the Steinway dealer in most of California at that time, both as a concert/new piano preparation technician and as a quality control consultant/piano prep manager for Asian piano companies affiliated with Sherman Clay.

 

He took on Steve Bellieu as an apprentice in 1991 and the rebuilding/restorative part of the business soon accelerated and expanded. In the '90s, David began tuning for film composers and selected performance venues and recording studios, still his pleasure and specialty. In late 1999, he began a 6-year association with David Abell Fine Pianos, the landmark Southern California piano store, preparing & maintaining new Fazioli, Bösendorfer, Yamaha and Schimmel grand pianos.

 

He opened his own boutique piano sales showroom, the Atelier, in late 2005. He sells quality instruments at all price ranges, rents pianos for performances and recording and presents an intimate outdoor concert series with some of the world's finest pianists from late April through early November. Andersen continues to teach various aspects of his craft at Piano Technicians Guild conferences on the local, regional and national level.

 

David has a 17-year-old son, Ari and a daughter, Jenika Khalsa, who serves as the operations manager of David Andersen Pianos; he lives in Los Angeles, California, with his son and his partner and fiancee, Tanya Ragir.

Wally Brooks

 

Wally Brooks has been a member of the Connecticut Chapter of PTG for 49 years.  He has over 25 years experience running a complete rebuilding shop including soundboard replacement, pinblock replacement, action replacement and case refinishing.  Wally has instructed at over 35 national conventions and countless regional seminars and technicials.  He and his wife Vivian were the recipients of  the PTG 2006 Golden Hammer Award.  Together with Vivian and their daughter Melanie, Wally has owned Brooks, Ltd. for 28 years; a quality rebuilding supplies & piano parts business, developing dimensionally correct hammer and action parts for the U.S. Market.

 

Dale Erwin

 

Co-presenting the All-Day-Seminar

Dale is a second-generation piano technician. His father, Harold, received training from the venerable William Braid White in 1950. His dad, one of the finest aural tuners of the time, mentored Dale and a few others in the art of musical and stable tuning. Having grown up in the "piano world" and in a deeply musical family prepared Dale for a career in custom piano restoration and rebuilding. His wife Trix and son Dennis work together with Dale at the family business, Erwin's Piano Restorations in Modesto, California.

 

Dale maintains a select few private clients: The Gallo Performing Arts Center, Cal State University Merced and CSU Stanislaus, Modesto Junior College, the Modesto Symphony, and a few others. He has rebuilt and maintains the largest number of Steinway "D" concert grands in his area.

 

Although he started out as a field technician for his Dad's Yamaha franchise, his passion for creating his own sound and touch took him out of the field and into the shop full time. His 35-year journey has been one of incredible discovery, high enthusiasm and rich experience -- both personal and musical -- and a steep, constant learning curve. His newest ventures are building his own soundboard panels and pinblocks from raw stock. His trademark soundboard design, the "variable radius" soundboard, has been displayed and heard at conventions since the early1990's, included Rochester 2006 and will include Anaheim 2008.

 

Dale has rebuilt  and replaced sound boards in over 100 Steinways, Mason & Hamlins and other fine pianos. His pursuit of what he terms the "golden piano tone" has led to the development of several classes taught in many venues: "Everyday voicing" with Bob Davis, "The Ronsen Hammer for the 21st Century" with Ray Negron, and, on his own, "Finding the Strike Line" and "Soundboards by Design." Drawing from these resources, he now teams with close friend, colleague and fellow pianophile David Andersen of Malibu, Californa, to teach, share and inspire.

 

Anne  E. Garee, RPT

Co-presenting "Grand Action Renovation Decisions"

 

Anne Garee has enjoyed a career in piano technology at the Florida State University College of Music since 1983. She joined the faculty in 2004 and directs the Master of Arts in Piano Technology program. A Registered Piano Technician with the Piano Technicians Guild, Anne holds a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance and completed a three-year apprenticeship program in piano technology from the Bowling Green State University in Ohio. She is an active clinician in the United States and Canada.

Robert A. Marinelli, RPT

Co-presenting "Grand Action Renovation Decisions"

 

Robert Marinelli, founder and president of Pianotek Supply Co., has been an RPT since 1976.  He began his technical career working in a cabinet shop with Henry Ford's personal cabinetmaker.  He owned and operated a piano rebuilding shop in the Detroit area for seven years.  At Pianotek, Bob has been involved with new product development and manufacturing replacement keyboards for the trade.  He has taught at many regional and annual conferences.

Paul Revenko-Jones, RPT

Presenting
"A De-termination of Agraffes" 

 

Paul grew up in the Washington, DC area, went to undergraduate school at Grinnell College in Iowa (BA, philosophy 1968), and did his graduate work at the University of Chicago (MA, English 1969). He was a dedicated brass player and played semi-professionally in the Midwest while gaining an interest in piano technology. After his return from the Peace Corps in 1971, he opened the first Music of the Spheres Pianoworks shop in Washington, DC. After joining the Piano Technicians Guild in 1987, he achieved RPT designation in 1989, and from 1987 served the PTG Chicago Chapter as editor of the newsletter, Secretary, Vice-president, and President.

He tuned for the Lyric Opera briefly in the 1990's, and now, with his wife Oksana, operates a full piano restoration shop on Chicago's near west side as well as servicing a substantial private tuning clientele. He has also been an editor of the Piano Technicians Journal from 2001-2005. In June, 2005, Paul received the Piano Technician's Guild Jack Greenfield Award "in recognition of outstanding research and writing of the best technical article for the Piano Technicians Journal." His interests include writing, the martial arts (ranked black belt and an instructor in aikido), and sailing their 28' sailboat Pianoforte on Lake Michigan.

Paul co-founded and is currently Director of The Chicago School for Piano Technology which has experienced success in its mission of creating the "whole technician". The School has, in its so far short history, graduated 21 students to varied and successful careers in piano technology, including several RPT's in the PTG, and internships at the major music festivals around the country.