Introduction

I grew up in the Waikato and attended Wesley College in Paerata. After leaving school, I spent a couple of years working as a piano technician in Hamilton before relocating to Auckland. In 1991 I completed a Bachelor of Music degree at Auckland University while studying performance piano and singing privately. By 1998 I was wanting to gain credentials in piano technology and decided to sit the U.S. Piano Technicians' Guild registration exams at their national convention in Providence, Rhode Island, passing at "examiner's level". Later that same year I became a registered member of the NZ Piano Tuners and Technicians Guild.

I have a strong commitment to ongoing professional development and was one of the organisers of the 2011Australasian Piano Technicians Guild conference, held here in Wellington. I have been a committee member of the NZ Piano Technicians Guild for a number of years and try to attend every workshop that we hold. I also try to get to an international convention every couple of years as these events are a great way to learn new techniques and maintain skills. Although the design of pianos has not changed much in the last 120 years, the manufacturing materials and the tools and techniques of repair have definitely evolved. So too, the technology available to technicians has advanced, particularly the use of computers and the tuning and design software. I particularly enjoy the challenge of improving repair techniques and have spent many hours sourcing tools and materials. I can't understand technicians who are happy working in solitude with little or no contact with their profession. Ask your tuner/technician how they keep up-to-date!

Although I perform all of the usual services of a piano technician, I have a particular interest in piano scale evaluation & design, bass string manufacture, and player piano rebuilding. I am also happy to carry out appraisals of instruments in need of repair, or those that have been repaired by others.