March 2018 – Piano Tuning & Servicing – Yellowknife, N.W.T.

Hello to all my piano tuning clients and colleagues!

P1070721I just got back from my annual trip to the capital of the Northwest Territories, Yellowknife. Each year I go north to tune, service, and repair pianos in this interesting part of the world.  This year was during spring break – which in Yellowknife is busy with their winter festivals – the long john jamboree, the snowcastle, the dog sled races, the ice carving, the entertainment.  It is a bright and sunny time of year, but was it ever cold!  -30 degrees celcius, at the end of our stay.  In addition to tuning many pianos and catching up with long-term clients, I also took some holiday time since my wife came up to visit for the first time ever. 

Next trip to Yellowknife: Fall 2018.  Don’t forget to book your piano tuning!

Here’s a few photos!
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January 2018 – Perfect piano tuning moment! Happy New Year

Happy New Year!  I wish you all a wonderful musical year.  May we all have a few perfect moments now and then….

I love tuning a beautiful piano to create lovely harmonies.  But I must admit, it’s even easier when I’m getting spoiled.   Last fall I arrived at a long-term client’s house up in Yellowknife to tune her grand piano.  In the middle of the tuning, she brought me fantastic caffe latte, and the combination was too beautiful to pass up.  I had to snap this shot of the perfect piano tuning moment.  That being said, do NOT put liquids on your piano!  It’s a bad example!  But a nice coffee to the piano technician never hurts….
Piano&Latte

December 2017 – Best wishes for peace and harmony during the holidays

It’s a busy time of year for a piano technician – I’m almost totally booked up until Christmas, tuning and preparing pianos for Christmas concerts, parties and recitals all over central Vancouver Island.  I tune pianos from Mill Bay, Shawinigan, Duncan, Chemainus, and Ladysmith in the south, to my home town of Nanaimo, and north to Qualicum Beach, Parksville and beyond.  To all of my wonderful piano clients, I wish you a joyful and harmonius holiday period.
Luckily it’s not this cold here:

Happy Holidays To All!             

Best wishes from Piano Forte Service. 

November 2017 – Piano Tuning and Servicing in Yellowknife, NWT

Once again, it’s time for my bi-annual trip to the Northwest Territories to tune and repair pianos in Yellowknife.  I’ve been travelling to Yellowknife for over 15 years now, and have a dedicated YKNWTclientel that I am in touch with every time I go.  While in Yellowknife, I service and tune pianos for all sorts of community groups – from schools to churches, from concert venues to private individuals.  I also enjoy visiting the wonderful people up in the north – their friendliness and generosity is unparalleled!

This year I will be in Yellowknife from Sunday October 29th until Wednesday November 8th.  I have a limited availability for new clients, but if you do need your piano tuned (and you live in Yellowknife), please contact me and I’ll see if I can squeeze you in!

Piano Forte Service:

phone:

250-754-2440

email:

jurgen@pianoforteservice.com

October 2017 – Piano Tuning and Repair on Vancouver Island

Hello Everyoneimages

We’re now officially into the “fall pianorush” of piano servicing.  The fall is a very busy time for tuning and repairing pianos in music studios, seniors homes, concert venues, churches, and for private individuals.

I regularly tune pianos throughout central Vancouver Island, from Mill Bay to Shawinigan Lake, Duncan, Chemainus, Ladysmith, Nanaimo, Parksville, and Qualicum Beach.  Plus – all the little places in between!   If you do want your piano tuned or serviced, please contact me early as the calendar fills up.  

Piano Forte Service:

phone:

250-754-2440

email:

jurgen@pianoforteservice.com

September 2017 – Piano Technician at “Accordion Noir Festival”

As a piano technician, one of my pleasures is getting to know other technicians around the world, both professionally and socially.  Many piano technicians have a background in music performance of some kind, and a love for instruments in general (especially all the beautiful mechanical, historical, and detailed aspects of instrument making and repair.)  As well as tuning and repairing modern pianos of every kind, I personally have a love for unique, historic, and rare pianos, and also mechanical musical instruments. DougSchmidt.B
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A colleague and friend of mine, Douglas Schmidt, is a trained piano technician but also one of the world’s great bandoneon players.  He also is trained in music theory and composition, and for the last few years has been teaching in Asia.  We recently learned that he would be coming to Vancouver to perform in the “Accordion Noir Festival” in September 2017.  I took a few days off from piano tuning in Nanaimo and grabbed the chance to connect with Douglas in Vancouver and to see his workshops and performance.  Here’s a photo of us taking apart his beautiful, unique, and historical bandoneon to check out the mechanics of it:

I’m now back on Vancouver Island, ready for the fall rush of tuning and repairing pianos from Shawinigan Lake to Qualicum Beach, and everywhere in between!  Please don’t hesitate to call 250-754-2440 to book your piano tuning appointment.

August 2017 – Piano Tuning on Hornby Island and for Music Festival

Once again, it’s a great time of the summer – the Hornby Island Music Festival!

I am honoured to be the piano technician for this great summer music festival, located off the coast of Vancouver Island on one of the most beautiful and iconic of the Gulf Islands: Hornby Island.

For more information about the festival:
https://hornbyfestival.com/


I will be tuning and preparing the grand piano for the concert performances. This year there are three great classical concerts happening in the Hornby Community Hall:

Thursday, Aug. 10 – Sheng Cai, classical pianist10390141_873694776015667_8482322880620317320_n

Twenty-eight year old award-winning pianist, Sheng Cai has embraced the keyboard tradition which epitomizes the greatness of the romantic virtuoso. His performances have touched audiences and won the praise of critics on three continents. Honored with a number of prizes and awards, Sheng Cai has been described as a pianist “with great confidence … lucidity, color and power …”

soloAug. 11 Kaplan/Weiss – Solo violin and piano – Classical
7 pm pre-show talk and 8 pm performance at The Hall

Mark Kaplan has established himself as one of the leading violinists of his generation. His consummate artistry has resulted in engagements with major orchestras throughout the world and collaborations with many of the world’s foremost conductors. Recent concerts have included the Elgar concerto with Leonard Slatkin at London’s Royal Festival Hall, and appearances with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and the Malaysian Philharmonic.

A captivating presence on the concert scene, pianist Yael Weiss is hailed for her visionary interpretations of surpassing depth, immediacy, and communicative power. Her richly varied schedule has included performances in major venues across the United States, Europe, Japan and South America.

Aug. 12 Weiss/Kaplan – Duo violin and piano – Classical
7 pm pre-show talk and 8 pm performance at The Hall

I also tune and service pianos for many private clients on Hornby Island while I am there.  If you live on Hornby Island and would like your piano tuned, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

July 2017 – Piano Technician Pro-D Seminar in Nanaimo

July 30th, 2017

After 35 years of professional piano technician work, I am still a strong advocate of professional development for myself and all my colleagues.  Piano technology is a discipline of life long study and improvement.  I have attended many educational events, and also organize and teach at such events. It’s a vital way to hone our skills, share our knowledge, and strengthen colleagiality among piano technicians. 

P1060285The summer, I helped organize a piano technician professional development seminar in Nanaimo on July 30th. We invited Fred Redekop from Winnipeg, a technician for 40 years who has benefitted from specialized concert tech training at Steinway (New York), Yamaha (Hamamatsu) and Bösendorfer (Vienna), among many others.  Using hands-on demonstrations, Fred took us through the steps of thorough regulation and fine voicing that are required to bring an instrument to concert level.  We had 16 piano technicians attend, from all over Vancouver Island, mainland British Columbia, and even Edmonton.   A great day was had by all!

Thanks to the Canadian Association of Piano Technicians’ and the Vancouver Island Chapter of the Piano Tecnician’s Guild for sponsoring this event.  Thanks also to the Nanaimo Conservatory of Music for allowing us to host the event there, and to use their Yamaha Grand Piano. 
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May 2017 – Piano tuning and repairs in Yellowknife, NWT

May 2017 – Piano Forte Service in Yellowknife, NWT

Although my main area of piano servicing is Vancouver Island, I have had the great opportunity of also developing a piano tuning client base in Yellowknife, in Canada’s North West Territories. I regularly go there twice a year to tune and repair pianos.  It’s always a bit of a shock to go up north in the spring. Throughout April I am happily enjoying the warm weather, flowers, and lrg738.jpgocean vistas of my home base of Nanaimo, Ladysmith, Parksville, Qualicum Beach, Cowichan, and the Gulf Islands.  This year my spring trip to Yellowknife was April 29th – May 8th, 2017.  Suddenly I was thrown back into the end of winter…temperatures near freezing and slush on the ground.  The extremes of weather and humidity certainly present a more difficult environment to keep pianos regulated, in tune, and in good repair.  Hence the importance of tuning pianos more often for my serious clients in Yellowknife.  I always enjoy the great connections I make in the north, and look forward to the next trip there.

Want more stories about piano tuning in the north? 
https://www.pianoforteservice.com/tuning-in-yellowknife/

Let me know if you need piano servicing in Yellowknife!  Next scheduled trip: October/November 2017.

March 2017 – Piano Tuning – What’s Involved?

March 2017

What is involved in piano tuning?  How often should I get my piano tuned?  Can I learn to tune my piano?

These and similar questions are commonly asked and they deserve more than a few lines in response.

As on Facebook, these two words sum it up : It’s Complicated!

Who better to clear things up than my colleague Sally Phillips, one of the all star players in the top league of piano technicians.

Take it away, Sally!

https://www.pianobuyer.com/current-issue/14a-piano-tuning-an-introduction.html