Piano Technicians Guild
SCRC Regional Conference
October 13-15, 2016
Granbury, TX
Instructors
The SCRC team has rounded up some of the best instructors you'll find. Click the links on the left to see bios, which are below.
Tim Barnes, RPT - Charlotte, NC
Timothy Barnes, RPT has spent the last 15 years building a successful piano service business that employs multiple technicians and office staff. His background is in music with a BSBA in Economics. Over the years he has developed a passion for helping piano technicians achieve their dreams, work less and earn more. He is the co-founder of of the Gazelle Network and is helping piano technicians around the world build stronger businesses so they can focus on the things they love.
David Brown, RPT - Dallas, TX
David C. Brown, RPT is the Head Piano Technician at Southern Methodist University in Dallas Texas. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Music and was a working musician prior to beginning his technical training in 1984. David was a member of the piano tech staff at The University of Texas at Austin from 1996 to 2006 and Arizona State University from 2006 to 2010. While in Austin, he was a concert and artist technician for Steinway and Sons, and was first-call technician for many of the city's live music venues. At ASU he served on the technical team for the USASU Bösendorfer-Schimmel International Piano Competition. He has trained in New York with Steinway & Sons; Los Angeles with Yamaha USA; Vienna with L. Bösendorfer; and Braunschweig, Germany with Wilhelm Schimmel Pianofortefabrik. Brown has also served as a consultant and instructor in Shanghai and Ningbo, China. A sought-after educator, he has taught throughout the U.S. and at the PTG Annual Convention and Institute on subjects as varied as tuning techniques, shop practices, repair, voicing, and rebuilding. His work has been heard on scores of recordings and concert stages throughout the U.S.
Gary Bruce, RPT - Edmond, OK
Gary's first piano experience was helping a local piano tuner move a piano in his hometown of Bad Axe, Michigan. He began working on pianos while still in college and started Bruce Piano Service in 1979. Gary joined the Central Oklahoma Chapter in 1980 and became an RPT in 1987. He attended the Yamaha Little Red Schoolhouse in 1985 and the WNG class in 2012. He has been constantly involved with the Central Oklahoma chapter, currently serving as Co-President and Treasurer. He served as Seminar Director for the 1992 and 2007 SCRC (TSA) conventions held in Oklahoma City and is currently serving SCRC as Treasurer. Gary has taught locally and regionally on a variety of topics including AcryliKey Repair, Keytop Replacement, Upright Rebuilding, Plastic Elbow Repair and Understanding Overtones. He has rebuilt numerous upright and grand pianos in his Edmond, Oklahoma shop which he shares with his oldest son Jordan, who is also a piano technician and retail store owner. He and his wife Jan both have degrees in music, his in percussion performance and hers in piano performance. Their three younger children are also professional musicians and teachers.
Norman Cantrell, RPT - Lawton, OK
Norman Cantrell began his career in musical instrument repair by working as an apprentice for B. L. McCrary Pipe Organ Service in Oklahoma City in the fall of 1978. After two and a half years with Mr. McCrary he left OKC and enrolled in Grayson County College in Dennison, TX to study piano tuning and repair. Upon completion of his studies at Grayson he returned to Oklahoma City and opened his own piano service business. Over the years he has specialized in the restoration of player pianos. He has been a member of the Piano Technicians Guild for several years and is currently a Registered Piano Technician and a Certified Tuning Examiner. He has been an instructor at regional and national PTG seminars. Norman is the immediate past National PTG President.
Mike Ello, RPT - Houston, TX
Mike Ello, RPT was introduced as a young boy to the piano service profession in the mid 1960's at his late father's player piano rebuilding and refinishing shop in downtown Lubbock, Texas. Mike has been servicing pianos since 1981. He was a member of the Dallas PTG (Piano Technicians Guild) for seven years and is currently active in the Houston PTG Chapter. Mike has been an instructor at both regional and national PTG conventions. He also serves as a Certified Tuning Examiner and is currently the Regional Vice President of the South Central region for the PTG. His family owned business is based in Richmond, TX, servicing the greater Houston area with tuning, regulating, voicing, rebuilding, and refinishing services. Mike is also known for his skill in polyester and lacquer finish touch up. His son, Joshua Ello, has joined the family business and is also a registered technician. You can visit Mike′s website at http://www.ellopianoservice.com
Jim Geiger, RPT - Heart of Texas Chapter
Jim Geiger was born on Christmas Day in l935. Graduating from Cincinnati Conservatory in l956 with a certificate in piano technology, he has done just about everything in piano work and taught many classes. He has taught piano technology at Houston Community College and Morehead State University. He has attended 39 conventions.
Stephen Hopp, RPT - Midland, TX
Stephen Hopp, RPT currently lives in Midland Texas and has had a love of the piano since lessons began at 5 years of age. He has studied piano performance for many years and has a Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Piano Performance and Education. He came to the technical side of pianos 13 years ago under coaxing from a local piano store owner. It now has become a major part of his life. After receiving his RPT honor he became engrossed in the piano technology world working in nearly all aspects of the field. Presently, he works with all three Steinway schools and a large performance venue which provides him opportunity to work with some of the most outstanding artists in the world. This often places him in situations where artist requests need to be effected quickly and to the highest level. He has the unique experience of understanding what a concert level pianist wants from a piano and how to facilitate that desire. www.pianoworksstudio.com
James M. Marks, RPT - Oklahoma City, OK
James (Jamie) Marks became an RPT member of PTG in 1976. He owned and operated a rebuilding shop in Oklahoma City until 1988. At that time he was hired by Baldwin Piano to oversee quality control at Prattwin in Juarez, Mexico then in 1989 he became Plant Manager at the Baldwin grand piano facility in Conway, Arkansas. In 1997 he operated rebuild shops in Chicago and Juarez until he was hired in 2000 by Mason & Hamlin to be Director of Engineering. He served as Plant Manager in Haverill, MA until his retirement in 2012 when he and his wife, Becky, moved back to Oklahoma to be close to their children and grandchildren. Jamie continues to be active in the Central Oklahoma Chapter, currently serving as Secretary, and also works part time in the Bob Scheer, RPT rebuild shop in Edmond, OK. He also enjoys running his CNC machine and making all kinds of items, some of which you will be able to see in the Exhibit Hall.
Dale Probst, RPT - Central Oklahoma Chapter
Dale Probst is a Registered Piano Technician in the Piano Technicians Guild (PTG) and a member of the Music Instrument Technicians Association(MITA). He has been restoring, repairing, servicing and tuning pianos and organs in the Texoma area for over thirty five years. A musician since the age of eight, Dale played in groups in Austin, Houston, and Wichita Falls,Tx. A native of Wichita Falls and graduate of Midwestern State University, he feels fortunate to have a vocation that combines his love of music, woodworking, metal working,and electronics. He received training at the Baldwin Piano factory and is a graduate of the Yamaha "Little Red Schoolhouse". In addition, through PTG and MITA he has received training on most major brands of pianos and organs. He services and restores electronic organs, pianos and both pneumatic and electronic player systems. He is proud to have served the Piano Technicians Guild (PTG) in multiple ways as President, Vice President, Secretary Treasurer, Regional Vice President and Institute Director four times and on various committees. He has taught technical classes at the PTG Convention, TSA Conference (now SCRC), Mid Atlantic Regional Convention, WestPac Regional Conference and the SCRC in addition to various chapters. In 1995, Dale received the Jimmy Gold Award for service to the Texas State Association of PTG. He has received many other regional and national awards. At the Atlanta Convention in 2014, he entered the PTG Hall of Fame. Dale received the Golden Hammer Award, the highest award the Piano Technicians Guild presents at the 2015 PTG Conference and Institute.
Dan Reed , RPT - Dallas, TX
Dan has a BA in Music Composition from the University ofTexas at Dallas. He has been servicing piano in Dallas for 40 years, winding down a 1.000 pianos a year service career. 'That is way too many to have any fun.' He has designed a hand held grand action model that makes studying regulation enjoyable.
David Reed , RPT - Kawai America
David Reed began working on pianos in 1980 in Fort Worth, Texas and became a RPT in 1989. He eventually became the National Service Manager for Yamaha from 2005 to 2010 and taught classes at national and regional conventions. After serving briefly as the National Service Manager for Pearl River, David joined Kawai in 2011 as its National Service Manager.
Fred Sturm, RPT - University of New Mexico
Fred Sturm, RPT since 1981, has worked for thirty years at the University of New Mexico, serving private and concert clientele as well. He has been active on the College and University Technicians committee, including trying to refine techniques for maintenance of heavy use instruments, to achieve long-lasting high level results. He has published many articles in the PTG Journal, and has taught regularly at annual conventions and elsewhere. His translation of Claude Montal's The Art of Tuning (1836 and 1865) was published recently by the Piano Technicians Guild Foundation.
Michael Tocquigny, RPT - Sanger, TX
Michael Tocquigny has been a self-employed piano technician since 1977 (about half-time in the Ft. Smith, AR area and half in north Texas) - all this after a one year experience as a public school math teacher. Training began with a course in piano technology at Grayson Co. College, continuing with Yamaha's Little Red School House, Steinway's technical school and, of course, many trips to PTG conventions. In recent years he's been privileged to teach at several national conventions. His work has included contract tunings for schools and colleges, but his preference is for shop work/rebuilding, especially pinblocks and restringing. In his spare time, he enjoys barbershop singing.
Elizabeth Ward, RPT - Central Oklahoma Chapter
Elizabeth Ward is a native of Alexandria, Louisiana. She has been a member of the Piano Technicians Guild since 1975, the same year she began learning the craft at Grayson County College Dennison, Texas. She worked many years for Kelly Ward Piano & Organ Store as staff technician servicing pianos in the central Louisiana area. As store technician she received training from service departments of Steinway & Sons, Kimball International and the Yamaha's "Little Red School House".
In 1984 Elizabeth was asked by Kimball International Piano Company to service all pianos, both Kimball and Bösendorfer concert grands provided for the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition in New Orleans. This proved to be a golden opportunity to increase her concert tuning skills and powers of concentration (sudden rain storms! tugboat horns! Calliopes!!)
She emigrated (it is a long way) to Wichita Falls, Texas in 1991 to become both bride and partner of Dale Probst, RPT.
Elizabeth is thankful to her father Kelly Ward, RPT who showed her the world's greatest profession. She is also grateful for the Piano Technicians Guild for the educational opportunities and fellowship which have so enriched her life.
Jim Watson - Austin, TX
Jim Watson is the owner and lead piano restorer at Watson Piano Works, LLC. He has over a decade of piano restoration experience working for himself and for Bernard Mollberg. Before pianos, he worked for fourteen years at a civil engineering firm, and studied music at university. Music continues to figure heavily into his life; he is a member of a popular, widely-touring band.