August 2019 – Piano tuning and servicing for the Hornby Island Music Festival

Once again, I’m privileged to be the piano technician selected to repair and tune the concert grand piano for the Hornby Island Music Festival. This is a music festival that’s been running for 38 years on this tiny gem of an island in the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and mainland B.C. Hornby is an island with an incredible natural setting, beautiful parks and trails, sandy beaches with warm ocean water, generous people, and it’s full of creativity of every type. The music festival runs for 10 days straight, and the last 3 performances this year were classical shows in the unique and intimate Hornby community hall. The piano there is a beautiful 1923 Bechstein concert grand piano, and it is my joy (and job) to keep it in great condition for the amazing artists that come every year.

This year we were privileged to have 3 talented performers come from New York: Michael Brown and Adam Golka on piano, and Lauren Pearl Eberwein sang a vocal recital. Lauren’s songs of “Love’s Passion and Sorrows” were moving and engaging, and the two piano recitals were technically impressive and emotionally powerful. The last recital included both pianists in two different four-hand pieces: Beethoven’s sonata in D and a rendition of Beethoven’s famous 5th Symphony. The piano really got a workout with these two masters engaging full force – I gave it multiple piano tunings to keep it in order! It was a pleasure to chat and share with all the artists, and hard to calm down after such exciting performances. Also while on Hornby I tune pianos for select private clients – please contact me if you need this service in the future