I spent Wednesday through Saturday at the annual Western and Pacific (WESTPAC) Piano Technician’s Conference. The event provided fantastic continuing education. I am so grateful for the contributions of the masters of my trade!

I gained new insights through the following presentations:

All Day with Fazioli — an all-day seminar on voicing the Fazioli piano, presented by Claudio Valent, Fazioli’s chief concert technician and Rick Baldassin

Grand Dampers De-mystified — A hands-on class on grand damper regulation, presented by Rick Baldassin, Michael Spreeman, and Carl Teel

Customers for Life — An insightful presentation on raising the level of piano service by Rick Florence

Advanced Topics in Tuning Stability — presented by Steve Brady

Soundboard Nuts and Bolts — a technical presentation on soundboard design parameters by Jude Revely

Understanding Action Ratios and Hammer Weights — a technical presentation on grand action rebuilding by Dale Erwin