PTG
Chris Climer wanted to play the piano and organ when he was 16 years old. He did not have the money to purchase an instrument so he made an arrangement to work in a music store in Arkansas to earn the money to make the payments –and he has been in the industry ever since! He learned to deliver...
Paul Monachino grew up in the Rochester, New York area during the big band era. He played trumpet and set out to see as many of the dance bands as he could including his hero Harry James. After serving during World War II, Paul was hired by the American Piano Company in 1946, the same year he was...
Bill Brandom enjoyed playing piano as a kid and was even voted “most musical” in high school. He later was given a book on piano tuning, which changed his life because he realized it would be his passion. He attended a piano tuning school and opened his own shop in Kansas City before being asked...
Robert Walker worked for the retail stores of the Baldwin Piano Company. He was located in the San Francisco store but later traveled the western states repairing and adjusting organs as they arrived in the stores. While the retail arm of Baldwin did not last, the ideas created in the stores were...
Lucien Hut dedicated his entire career to teaching, selling, restoring and designing the piano! As a retailer he established Pianos International in Colorado. He later moved to Montana where he taught at the university for several years. His interest and involvement in music began when he...
James Reeder is the piano technician who formed James Reeder Piano in Lansing, Michigan, as both a repair and retail business. With a strong background in the restoration of pianos, Jim sought to hire top craftsmen to create the best service possible. Among those he hired was his father, who had...
Elmer Reeder and his brother purchased a sawmill outside of Lansing, Michigan, right after World War II. It was during that time that Elmer became an expert in wood, an important part of his career years later. When his son, Jim, opened a piano shop and retail store called James Reeder Piano,...
David Horine opened a small piano store in Bloomington, Illinois in the 1980s. David became a piano technician and gathered a nice reputation for tuning and repairs before he decided to open his own retail store. He found in short order that his customers were eager to try new models of the...
Ted Sambell was born in London, England and made his living as a piano technician in London, and Ontario, Canada. With poor eyesight Ted was often told he was limited in his career choices, but has said many times that being a piano technician was the ideal job for him and one he has enjoyed for...
G. Frank Emerson is a piano designer whose roots are firmly based in piano technician training and experiences he was involved with in the early part of his career. He became a well respected piano designer for the Baldwin Piano Company in the 1970s while continuing to support the Piano Technicians...