Connecticut Chapter PTG

MEET THE MEMBERS

 

Mark Peele, as told by Robert Stack
Born, March 1951, Marcoz Prtenjaca, (on da sout side of Chicagah)
in the back seat of a '47 Ford Roadster as it careened down Michigan Ave. gunfire erupting all around.
At the wheel was Mark's father, Louie (the union boss) Peele.
Seated beside him were Mark's two uncles, "Teddy blue eyes" and "Big joe". (union...uh ...enforcers).
Mark's mother Jean screamed from the back, "Stop the car! "
" Hey, We're woikin heah," Louie yelled, Don't have a baby for Christ sake" But she did.
It was an inauspicious start to a life torn from the pages of a Dickens novel.

He was raised in a tenement along the tracks of the old Rock Island RR .
It was a hardscrabble youth made worse when he fell in with the wrong crowd (his brothers and cousins).
Trouble always seemed to follow him and by age 16......grand theft auto? Nah..
Louie made some calls, got it fixed.
Louie did take Mark out behind the woodshed and.....
Mark cleaned up his act, graduated with honors, and was awarded a full scholarship
(to the Univ. of Illinois) from the local State Senator
(he had connections to the family or was it those compromising photos? We'll never know)

At college Mark studied Physics and computer science.
It was there he met HAL (who would later star in a Kubrick Sci-Fi classic).
Long nights were spent writing code, Days spent feeding punch cards into Hal's insatiable processor.
Infrequent free time was consumed with menial jobs; short order cook, rag picker...
a life ripped from the pages of a Dickens's novel.
But it was during one of these jobs (as a door to door siding salesman)
that the fickle hand of fate sucker punched Mark onto a new life course.
He was offered a free piano by a perspective customer.
Why not? he thought . The rest is history.

He brought the piano home, called a piano tech, became his apprentice
and by 1975 had moved to Chicago and opened a piano shop on the left bank.
Trouble continued to follow Mark, however,
and within a year he fled to Tucson , AZ with his future wife Pam.
The official story? They went to attend grad school,
but rumors suggest it had something to do with unpaid debts to a guy named Guido.
In Tucson, Mark went to the nearby piano dealer looking for work but alas they already had a tuner.
Again fate intervened as two days later the store called and said, "Our piano tuner died last night, want a job?"
(Was it just a coincidence that two of Mark's cousins were visiting from Chicago? We'll never know.)
That same weekend in 1979 his cousins visited the local PTG chapter who had refused admission due to his sordid past.
Amazingly he was enrolled immediately.
With full RPT status and made chapter president for life.
You can imagine the joy on Mark's face as he presided over a roomful of members all wearing identical knee braces.
(Hey...... it was only one knee).

To this day Mark is proud of the fact he scored 100% on all the RPT tests without ever having taken them.
Amazing accomplishment!! Kudos Marcoz!!
So Mark built his business in Tucson while getting a degree in jazz studies from the Univ. of Arizona
and has been playing professionally for 25 years.
In 1993, his wife Pam was offered a teaching job in the art dept. at Connecticut College.
It was going to be hard to leave a successful business and start over from scratch
but luckily Mark found work at the piano shop of Wally Brooks
(a vicious overlord who paid Mark a pittance for his superior skills.....it was a life ripped from the pages.....).
Luckily, Wally's wonderful wife Vivian felt awful about Mark's inhumane treatment
and helped him immeasurably when she began her own retirement from tuning.
She even helped pay for Mark's knee surgery in '04 , brought on as a result of Wally's constant beatings.

Mark has been building his business in S.E. Ct. for 10 years now. In 2003 he built a new shop at his home in Quaker Hill, CT for "light" rebuilding and action work. He lives with his wife Pam, their horse, Koller, and a vicious Jack Russell Terrier named Gracie (known throughout the neighborhood as John Wayne Gracie). Hobbies include golf, chess, kayaking, travel, gardening, basketball, and writing preposterous stories. Be sure to attend this months meeting .
We'll be giving away a free set of shanks and hammers from Brook's Ltd.
to the first person who can correctly pronounce Mark Peele's real name!.
Be there!!!!
P.S. Though there were some "embellishments" for dramatic effect,
all the facts of this story are true.

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Our gracious Holiday party Hosts- The Robinsons
It would appear that this is going to be a double-mint moment, so we would like to tell you a little about ourselves.
Karen and Chris met in high school in Westport, Connecticut.
Both were involved in the acappella choir.
Karen studied dance while Chris and two friends performed in a small Kingston Trio type folk band.
Karen studied oboe for a short while as Chris started piano lessons.
Both, however, were the bane of their unfortunate pedagogues.
Karen studied modern dance and then voice when she was in college.
Chris went off to school as music major, but wound up in a theatre school in New York.

They were married in 1965.
Karen taught at a performing arts school and participated in music theatre as a singer and dancer,
while Chris worked in regional theatre and summer stock, with some off-Broadway credits.
After almost 5 years of this, Chris decided to look for more predictable employment.
At the suggestion of John Ford, he sought out piano training at the Sohmer factory, but Harry Sohmer would not give him a job.
"Why not?" asked Chris. "Because if you are no good, I'll have to fire you," he said;
"and if you are good you'll leave me just as soon as you have the experience."
So Chris got involved with David Way, who was selling Zuckermann harpsichord kits like hotcakes
and became their first technician.
His job was to troubleshoot problems and help people finish their kits and get them playable.
The shift over into piano work was an inevitable outgrowth of this work.
He joined the PTG in 1972.

Meanwhile, Karen was teaching, singing and dancing, and performing the principal female parts
for a small Gilbert and Sullivan opera group in southern Manhattan.
She and Chris moved to Connecticut in 1973 with their 2-year-old daughter, Cabeiri.
A year later they had their son, Kylian.
Karen started a dance school for very young children in Connecticut,
but decided in 1984 that she would prefer to be a part of the AcoustiCraft experience.
Chris decided that the primary parts of that experience should be damper installation and regulation.
He thought that this would either discourage her or keep her quiet, but succeeded in neither respect.
All of their "formal" training has been through PTG classes and seminars.
They in their turn have presented classes for the education of others who participate in the offerings of PTG workshops to increase and hone their own skills.
Chris was recently inducted into the PTG "Hall of Fame" for his own contributions to the organization,
but as you know, behind every man stands a determined woman.

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John Gallen:
Webmaster and Programs

I grew up in a military family, the oldest of eight children.
Born & graduated in Charleston, SC (just listen to my accent!),
we spent the years between in various places,
including 6th-11th grades in Long Beach, MS
(border town west of Gulfport, both devastated by Hurricane Katrina).

Piano lessons were part of my life from 2nd-10th grades,
but moving often and changing teachers did not help with consistency.
I spent my first year after high school working in the refinishing department
of the piano department of a Charleston music retailer while attending college.
The following year the military brought us to CT where I have been ever since.
In 1984, I again found myself working for a local piano store,
this time helping with piano moving,
& later to rebuilding & repairing.

I met Heidi in 1986.
We were put together to co-lead a Bible study for teens from a local high school attending our church.
Not only were we married in 1988, but also bought part of the business from my employer and bought a condo.
Heidi quit working outside the home when our eldest was born a few weeks after our anniversary in 1989.
Others soon followed.
At present, we have been blessed with nine children,
the most recent being twins born this July.
Most of our children were born at home and delivered by their father
in the presence, in most cases, of a midwife.

In 1996, I began working for Brooks, Ltd.
I still maintain my own rebuilding business as well as a tax preparation business, which began in 1994.
Life at our house involves itself with children, for some strange reason.
Four of them play piano, one plays violin, and one plays flute.
Three of us sing in the church choir, although we all sing to some extent.
We are so blessed at work and at play.
We thank God for His blessings and are excited to serve Him in all that we do.

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Amy Banovich-Tiernan

MEET THE MEMBERS Keybed Editor: Amy Banovich-Tiernan I started my journey in piano technology in the fall of 1997 when I first attended the North Bennet Street School.
I had graduated college with a degree in Biology, and was wondering what else to do with my life.
Since I loved going to school, I thought continuing my education was the way to go, but I had enough of dissecting pigs and cats. So I fell back on the idea of music.

I had taken my first piano lesson at age 9 and continued with it through my sophomore year of college.
I do remember at an early age learning how to lift the lid of our old upright in the basement, and looking endlessly at all the moving parts.
Along the way I picked up a clarinet and bass clarinet. I always loved being part of the band, and practicing the piano was never a chore for me. I loved playing but didn't think I wanted to be a music educator. Hence, the degree in biology.

Although my own piano tuner was not encouraging, my piano teacher from college sent me an article about Christine Lovgren from NBSS and I was intrigued! What better way to play with pianos instead of having to perform in front of people! I fell in love with NBSS from the first step through the door.
Walking through the school there were more pianos that I could have imagined, all in different states of repair and dis-repair. It made sense to me that they should be fixed and enjoyed by people.
That first year at NBSS, I joined PTG. In the spring of 2001, I completed my RPT tests.
I joined the Connecticut Chapter when I moved here in the summer of 2001. I have served as Entertainment Coordinator, the Keybed Editor, and delegate and alternate at the National Convention.
There are many things I like about being a technician. Sometimes you can do the smallest thing to a piano, and it makes a world of difference to someone.
This job can take you to amazing places, like the mountains in Aspen or to the quiet confines of a church.

I enjoy working at Brooks, LTD. Being around technicians like Wally and Vivian is an honor, and more fun than you would think! It is also an opportunity to learn different skills and see what people are working on all over the country. It is very true that you can learn something new everyday!
I am also fortunate enough to be married to a technician, which provides endless topics for discussion at the dinner table! It is great to share my day with Jim as we build our business together.

Besides pianos, my life is filled with fun stuff like Green Bay Packer football, learning how to golf, kickboxing, a minor obsession with Huey Lewis, and expanding my cooking skills. I do miss my native Wisconsin, but feel lucky enough to have found many friends here in Connecticut as a result of being in this business. - Amy

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Bill Mcgarry

Meet our Memorial Scholarship Recipient: Bill McGarry

How long have you been a piano technician?
My involvement in pianos started when we moved an old player piano from my wife's grandparent's home in Pittsburgh. It had been in their home since it was purchased in 1923. During the years their house was heated with coal the inside of the piano became coated with the black coal dust. This unique smell oozed from the piano in the humid summer days, so in 1999 I decided to clean the inside as best as I could and I became 'hooked' on the piano. How long have you been a PTG Member? While repairing this player piano, I worked with Irv Norton, owner of "Player Piano Emporium". Irv guided me through the repair of the player components and recommended I join the local PTG chapter. It was good advice and I joined our chapter in 2002. I have been attending our chapter meeting and regional conventions since then.

Have you held any position past or present in the PTG Guild that you would like recognized?
I'm currently chairman, vice chair and secretary of our chapter's Entertainment Committee. I have the enormous responsibility for our monthly coffee (decaf and regular) and the choice of cookies. I coordinate the May banquet, summer picnic and holiday party. I'm also responsible for the vast Entertainment Committee budget.

What made you chose Piano Technology?
Since my childhood days I have been interested in building models, woodworking and all things mechanical. Once I started in this field it didn't take long to see there was a knowledge gap that need to be filled and the PTG is the place to go.

Favorite part of being a Technician:
I enjoy taking an old piano and bringing it back to life. It is wonderful to see it's new owner take great pleasure in playing it and seeing it continue to bring joy to another generation. I'm work full time outside of the piano industry as a project manager for AT&T.

Do you have a musical background as well?
I have played the following musical devices: I started in the 60's with transistor radios and then moved to stereo equipment, cassette tape players and then finally on to CD's.

Anyone in your family involved in Piano Technology?
No

Hobbies and other interests:
My hobbies include sailing, scuba diving since 1974, R/C flying and did sky dive once.

I would like to extend my gratitude to the chapter for selecting me for this year's Memorial Scholarship Award. It truly was a surprise to be awarded the scholarship and I am honored to be in our chapter. I would like to thank the committee members and all members that support the scholarship fund and it's goals. My involvement in our PTG meetings, project sessions, and PTG classes, have given me the knowledge and confidence to continue moving forward in this exciting profession. The knowledge sharing, and mentoring shown by all members is something we all can be proud of. I will use the award to continue pursuing classes in piano technology in the ultimate goal of the RPT status.
Bill McGarry

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Kenneth Farrington

 OUR CHAPTER DELEGATE In April 1999 I officially started Integrity Piano Service, although I began doing a little piano work and learning about the trade over the preceding eight months or so. I was finishing my last year of high school at the time, and the following September, I signed up for the Randy Potter School of Piano Technology. The course turned out to be immensely helpful and practical, and taught me much over the next year and a half. PTG has also been an important part of my training over the last five years that I have been a member. The highlight of my career so far was passing the RPT exams in January of 2003. But then, my first convention in Arlington (2000), at age nineteen was pretty exciting, too! I have always enjoyed playing the piano since my first lesson at age ten in 1991. God is the source of my talent, and I have had many opportunities to use it for him, including playing keyboard at my small church and producing MIDI orchestrations for Christian music. The most recent example is the CD recorded by members of my church (www.PeaceAndPurpose.com/cd). God is also the one who blessed me with loving parents, and a brother who's my best friend and classmate since we were home-schooled from Kindergarten through high school. The home school setting and my family's love for God have had much to do both with how I've used my musical ability and with what led me to piano technology as a career. My parents could see my interest in the technical side of the piano for years. Even our piano tuner from the early 90's (who still lives in my home town) can probably remember that 12-year-old who loved watching every piano tuning-no surprise I grew up to be a piano tuner! Towards the end of high school, one opportunity led to another, and soon I was doing floor tuning at a local East Coast Piano branch store. (This was before my official training-they must not have cared that I was a long way from tuning to RPT standards!) Training was essential, however, and as a home-study course, the Randy Potter School was an ideal way for me to learn, following all my years of home school. In addition, since I love my family dearly, it has allowed me to stay at home and build my business, all the while enjoying the companionship and encouragement of my family. Some of my favorite facets of piano technology and running my own business include tuning aurally; explaining the piano's needs to my clients; running the business and promoting it in new ways; keeping records; and providing complete, detail-oriented service for school pianos. The most important thing in my life, however, has nothing to do with pianos but with God, the Bible, and my love for the Lord Jesus Christ. If you would like to learn more about me and my business practice, please visit me on the web at www.integritypiano.com.

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OCR Document

 

Jim Birch, RPT

National PTG President

CT Chapter Member since 1980

 

Being a piano technician was in the cards for Jim at an early age.  In high school,

Jim's mom was already setting the stage encouraging him to apprentice with their piano tuner  "ole" Mr. Scranton of Meriden.  Of course as a teenager he resisted, but later as a student at WESCON (where he obtained a BS in Music Education), he applied for a piano tuning course through the MENC Journal.  The course was "somewhat of a joke", but provided the basics to get started and that he did.   In 1970 he began tuning for friends and relatives.

 

In 1979/80, Jim joined the Guild as an apprentice member. "PTG has enabled me to round out my knowledge and fill in the blanks of the initial tuning course."  Jim's training includes years of experience and many, many hours of classes provided by various PTG sponsors from CT Chapter technicals to Regional Seminars on to Annual Institute classes.  "Even now, I continue to pick up tips thru my PTG contacts".  Although there are many individuals who have helped in Jim's training, he reflects that working along side Scotty Welton in his shop stands out as being very special.  "He treated me as an equal.  We shared methods for our various tasks.  I felt we had a father/son relationship, one I will treasure forever."

 

In 1982, Jim attained his RPT status and began an active commitment to the Guild.  Beginning on the local level, Jim has held all posts in CT some more than once.  He became Regional Vice President in 1990 serving for a number of years, took a two year break, served two more years, became National Vice President for a year and then after, returned to complete two more years as Vice President and is now finishing his second year as National President.  "It's been a long run serving proudly but now counting the days.  I'll have a year, as past President so I believe in a span of 16 years, I will have served no less than thirteen on the National Board... Can you tell I love PTG!"?

 

When asked what his favorite part of being a piano technician is, he says "working with the public" and retells the following story.  "Just yesterday is a perfect example.  The 1984 Jonas-Chickering console had not been tuned for at least ten years and was just awful, at the wrong pitch...  When the young boy who studied arrived home, I played a simple tune.  His eyes lit up with excitement and awe hearing his piano sound so "beautiful."  That's what it is all about!"

 

Although from an outsiders' point of view PTG would seem to consume Jim's life he still manages to round himself out. He has been singing in church since he was a little tike and is presently a singer for the Norfield Congo Church in Weston, a local quartet and recently the Westport Madrigal Singers and he is on the board of Camp Claire in Hamburg where we had last year's picnic. 

 

Jim spends his "spare time" working on "this ole-pre 1800" house he lives in and is waiting for spring to arrive to resurrect his gardens and clean up the once idle swimming pool just in time to enjoy summer with his two grown daughters and his first grandchild, four month old Joey. His quiet time will be spent lounging on his soon to be screened in porch where he will read the newest "Harry Potter" book since being turned on to the series by Bruce and Barb Blanchard with "kitty" curled up at his feet and sips that long awaited ice tea!  -- Keep dreaming Jim!! mb

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Chris Haberbosch

 Chapter Secretary, Project Manager and Programs Committee Member CHRIS HABERBOSCH I began studying piano technology in 1995 by reading literature from authors such as Reblitz. It wasn't long before a small retail establishment in central Illinois took me on and I worked 50 hours per week doing everything I could. This usually included a good amount of moving, polishing, cleaning, arranging, and eventually tuning and prepping new and used instruments. I came in contact with a good variety of pianos and all kinds of people. Many of each continue to inspire me. I remember Will Headly, a retired college technician who continues to perform outstanding tunings well into his eighties (nineties?). One time he arrived at the shop for his regular floor tunings only to find his path obstructed by freshly uncrated pianos and their boxes. When I apologized for all the chaos he replied, "Chaos is always just around the corner." He then simply stepped over the mess and began tuning. It would have been the fall of 1998 when I became a member of the PTG, although I had already attended many meetings. It wasn't until 2001 that I finally took and passed the tuning exam, gaining me RPT status. I am very grateful for the sharing attitude of those I met in the central Illinois chapter, those in Michigan, and those of you here in Connecticut. I hope I can give back as much as I've gained. So far, I've served as treasurer, secretary, alternate delegate, delegate, and on the programs and project committees. My favorite part of being a piano technician is the music. My father was an organist and a music teacher so I've been around music my whole life and it always fills me with a sense of awe to see a good musician perform. I'm sure if I had been introduced sooner to the concept of being a piano technician I'd have been involved much earlier; once I started I was hooked. I think I've been very fortunate to be involved in a lot of the various aspects of piano technology. From the sales, teaching, moving and field experience I gained as part of the team at Horine's Pianos Plus to fitting actions, tuning and regulating at Reeder Pianos. I've learned a lot, and I always feel like a kid in a candy store at PTG conventions. I try to always learn something from everyone but I'd have to say that the four years I've spent with Chris Robinson and everyone at AcoustiCraft have been by far the most instrumental. Having recently acquired a minority interest in AcoustiCraft and been elected its new vice-president, I look forward to a career filled with all kinds of challenges and inspirations.

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Jim Tiernan

 I have been a Piano Technician and member of the guild for seven years. I have held the positions of secretary and treasurer for the Connecticut Chapter, and was also an alternate delegate at the Chicago Convention. When I was finishing college, I went to the career center on campus and found a binder labeled "Miscellaneous Music Careers". Among these was being a Piano Technician. I studied Piano Technology at the North Bennett Street School in Boston. I completed the two-year program and had the great honor of working with the NBSS Piano Technology staff. I also had the privilege of spending a summer working with the Robinsons at AcoustiCraft. I enjoy working with my hands and learning how things work. I studied piano and French horn growing up, have been involved with choral groups for many years as well as a member of two rock bands. I like the challenge of each piano I encounter, the clients, and the endless store of knowledge I find being a PTG member. Besides piano work, I enjoy singing and playing the guitar. I am an avid distance runner, and enjoy tennis, love playing Frisbee, and have recently started taking golf lessons with my wife, Amy.

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Herb Lindahl

 CHAPTER VICE PRESIDENT, HERB LINDAHL, RPT
How long have you been a piano technician?
I started working on pianos part time in 1973, in Manchester CT. The name of the store was Meyers Piano Co. There he restored and refinished old upright pianos for resale. My first job there was to take the pianos apart, remove keys, felts, etc. Learned to replace bridle straps, file hammers, strip cases, etc. Here I also developed my interest in player pianos.
How long have you been a PTG Member?
I attended my first PTG meeting in 1979 at the invitation of then Chapter President, Chris Robinson. From that day forward, I was hooked on the philosophy and goals of PTG. I began taking tests in 1982, and passed the RPT exam in that year. Dave Tyrell was on the testing committee, along with CTE Richard Loomis, from Western Mass. I was very proud that day!
Have you held any position past or present in the PTG Guild that you would like recognized?
I have held all offices at the local level (some twice). Served on Membership, Program, Projects, NEECSO Seminar and Nominating committees. I was Technical Institute Chairman for NEECSO at least once. I have taught at local Chapter Meetings and several classes at the National level. Received Chapter Member of the Year award several years ago.
What made you chose Piano Technology?
I have always been interested in mechanical things and how they work. In addition I have enjoyed music all my life. Seemed like a pretty easy decision to stay with it, and here I am!
Favorite part of being a Technician.
Independence, determining my own schedule, working with people, the challenges of different pianos and problems are all contributing factors. I have never held a "normal" full time job.
Do you have a musical background as well?
Began in the early seventies playing the bass guitar. Made it all the way to the local club scene, which at that time was quite active. Realized early on that the rock and roll life would not work with young children. ( Plus, I couldn't fit my bass amplifier in my 1976 Fiat four door)
How did you train to become a Piano Technician?
I worked for Joe Meyers from 1973 to 1981. Although he was a hard worker, he was somewhat closed minded in his approach to Piano Technology. This fact alone drew me to the PTG and its mission. I learned so much from members, that I was able to share with Mr. Meyers, thus opening his eyes to more information. In 1984-85 I worked with Chris Robinson at Acousticraft Inc, learning soundboard and pinblock construction. In 1981 I met Norm Banta, and trained with him on aural tuning until passing the RPT exam in 1982. I have attended countless National and Regional conventions, learning all that much more. Also, I have spent thousands of hours in self study on player piano technology, both old and new systems.
Anyone in your family involved in Piano Technology?
My second oldest son, Rich, has worked at Shawn's Piano in West Hartford for 7 or 8 years. He continues to learn cabinet restoration, soundboard and bridge construction, and various other important aspects of running a piano rebuilding/retail business.
What other interests and hobbies do you enjoy?
My hobbies include snowmobiling, listening to music, keeping up on National events, (past and present) traveling, and learning more about the world around me.

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Evan Dunnell

 I have been a Piano Technician since 1991, a Guild member since February 1995, and an RPT since February 1997. I am currently on the Exam and Test Standards committee of the Guild. Being a mechanical person, my favorite part of being a piano technician is rebuilding and regulating actions, as well as other repairs. Like Chris Robinson, my first interest with keyboard instruments was in harpsichords. My family started one of the Zuckerman kits, but I was the one who wound up completing the construction of the instrument. My experience learning to tune it was the most interesting and frustrating part for me. I had the chance to try tuning an old console piano and was in for a shock with only the harpsichord experience. Several years after that failed piano attempt, I was in a position to change careers and was steered to Bill Garlick for instruction on equal temperament tuning. After confirming that I had some possibilities, he agreed to take me on as a tuning student at his home. I did not know at the time how lucky I was to have hooked up with such a top teacher in the piano field, but it is very clear to me now. I studied with Bill for about one year, after which he said I was ready for 'domestic' tuning. I was in the process of moving to CT and he insisted that I join the Guild. I expected to find a bunch of old fuddy duddies but I was in for a very pleasant surprise when I did get to meet the members of the CT chapter. I am still amazed at how willing the Guild members are to share their knowledge and experience with greener members. I am also thrilled to be able to now share some of my own knowledge and experience with newer technicians. My main hobby (being a cellist) is playing chamber music several evenings a week with friends, as well as 4 weeks of summer workshops. I am also an avid sailor, as well as a scuba diver, and an inactive private pilot. My past work experiences have included: computer programming, and many aspects of a family manufacturing business, (electrical installations, plumbing installations, boiler and air compressor maintenance, process equipment maintenance, and accounting).

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Updated: 10 August 2005