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November meeting November 5, 2009

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The November 10, 2009 meeting of the Sacramento Valley Chapter of the PTG will be held at
Fox and Dearing Piano Shop
7101 34th St North Highlands Ca
The business meeting will begin at 6:30pm and the technical will follow immediately with refreshments on hand – no break.
The technical will be presented by Brett Dearing and Gene Nelson.
A brief but  interesting history of a nearly completed rebuilt 6 foot Petrof will be given
followed by a practical approach to hammer hanging.
We will discuss action and client analysis in order to select the correct hammer,
hanging concept and maybe hang a few in the process for anyone feeling ambitious.
See You There!

 

Description of a concert of ruined pianos December 14, 2009

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Ruined

Hobart Bond Store, Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery

5 April 2009

Ten Days on the Island Festival Of Timbre and Taxonomy

Ross Bolleter. Avant garde composer, archaeologist, social historian and Romantic. The audience is transfixed and transported as he conjures noises, alien and familiar, that stir our imagination. He tells stories that flood our hearts and our memories. Only a labour of love can unearth this kind of magic. Young and old, piano or no piano in our separate worlds, we are connected by a shared history and an extraordinary music.

In the Hobart Bond Store in the bowels of the Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery stand the many ruined, rescued pianos from Ross Bolleter’s Tasmanian travels. In his Taxonomy of Ruin, he has set up a classification system for us: neglected (including verandah pianos); abandoned (including shed pianos), weathered; decayed; ruined; devastated; decomposed; annihilated. Hundreds of people are being turned away from this popular, free event. The audience is over capacity. Our curiosity builds.

Over two months, with the help of Teresa Beck-Swindale from Tasmanian Regional Arts, Bolleter located ruined pianos from the furthest parts of Tasmania. As he stands before us, his eyes twinkling-a humble and jolly man-he welcomes us to this leg of his Tasmanian journey. He begins by telling us that he was sorry to tell people that their pianos were ”just not ruined enough”. He reckons the Bond Store is a fitting venue for this performance, as the entry point to Tasmania for many of these pianos would have been the docks that lie behind these walls, across Davey Street. He tells us of a bygone era when the piano was the “bearer of European culture”, and delights us with stories about the hardships born by the lovers of these non-portable instruments.

And the pianos. They look decayed and precarious, these uprights with soundboards exposed-one, found at Scamander rubbish tip, lies on the the ground in the far right corner, chopped up and dismembered. Bolleter introduces each one as he plays them, their original owners, and how each was found from in far reaches of Tasmania. Their provenance lay as

far as Paris, London, Berlin, and America. One woman from Beauty Point rescued a piano just as it was about to be burned, carrying it away in a horsefloat so it could continue a more stately demise buried beneath books in her shed. Many pianos became habitat for animals, insects and birds. Ross recounts a story of how upon playing one, white ants poured out and began dancing for him in concentric circles on the casing.

Ross Bolleter treats each piano with the love and dignity it must have enjoyed in its prime. Each piano is reborn in a clamorous reverie. The timbre is strange and beautiful as he improvises with experience and virtuosity. He plays them on his knees and sitting upright. He plays sitting below the keyboard on a cushion and with his elbows. Felt hammers nock and clap with no strings left to reach. Some ivories ping, some keys tinkle, some make no sound at all. Soundboard strings twang and resonate as he reaches underneath. Now and then he incorporates recognisable melodies.

Ross improvises for us a finale that incorporates all of the pianos, playing fragments of The Road to Gundagai. These pianos are now endeared to a loving audience, for a moment restored to their former cultural glory and to the centre of our consciousness.

Sara Wright is an artist based in Hobart, Tasmania

Antonio’s last piano performance September 19, 2009

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Antonio died on September 17, 2009. You can read his obituary in the Sacramento Bee here.

October meeting September 17, 2009

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The October meeting of the Sacramento Valley Chapter, PTG, will be held at a special date and time:
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, at 5:30 PM
at Sherman Clay Pianos
771 Pleasant Grove Blvd.,
Roseville, CA  95661
Our special guest will be the legendary Franz Mohr, lifelong piano technician for Vladimir Horowitz.  Mr. Mohr will discuss all things piano with us from 5:00 to 7:00 PM.
Following this early technical program, we will walk a few doors down to Mary’s Pizza Shack for a brief business meeting, followed by pizza and beverages.  This is an earlier-than-usual start for us, but please plan to be there prior to  5:30 PM, as Mr. Mohr has another event beginning at 7:30 that evening.
We’d like a head count for this event, so please call Dan (916) 224-0122, or email me before October 1st.  If anyone has a copy of Mr. Mohr’s book, he may be available to sign them.  If anyone wants to order a copy for him to sign, let me know ASAP,  (within the next day or two),   and I’ll see about getting a quick order together.

Antonio Bombal September 8, 2009

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You may have heard that Antonio Bombal had a car accident and was in the hospital. He has chosen to leave the hospital for hospice care at home. If you would like to visit him, don’t delay. Call him at 916-392-3392 to arrange a visit. I’m sure he would love to see any of his tuner friends.

September meeting August 28, 2009

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The September  meeting of the Sacramento Valley Chapter of the Piano Technicians Guild will be held Tuesday, September 8th, at the shop of Dale Fox
7101 34th Street,
North Highlands, CA  95660
Business Meeting to begin at 6:30 PM.
Gene Nelson will be presenting the technical program:  “Bending Damper Wires,”  a topic that should both fascinate and frighten most of us.

Tonometric.com: Neuroscience-based musical tests and population stats August 5, 2009

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Here is a site where you can test your pitch awareness.

August meeting August 4, 2009

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The August meeting is next Tuesday, Aug 11th, 6:30 PM for business meeting, at Alex Hernandez’s store, 10910 Olson Drive, #150, Rancho Cordova, 95670.
Olson Drive is off Zinfandel Road, just off Hwy 50.

Technical Program:  “Associates Challenge”

Associates  (and just about anyone else who wants to participate)  will be divided into teams to diagnose and regulate action models that our evil Vice-President, Gene Nelson  has deviously  “de-regulated.”  This will be a bit like taking the Grand Action section of the RPT technical exam, only without the stress, sweat, and clicking timer……..

John Barry, Popularizer of WD-40, Dies at 84 – Obituary (Obit) – NYTimes.com July 23, 2009

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July Meeting — Members Only July 7, 2009

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The July meeting  is an invitation event for currently chapter members only. They will be receiving an email invitation by Monday, July 6.  Any member who has not received an email should call Dan at (916) 224-0122.  People planning to attend must RSVP to Dan by Thursday July 9.