Newsletter
February, 2021
Michael Slavin - President, John Luca - Vice President, Paul Keogler - Treasurer, Richard Liptzin - Secretary
The general meeting for this month will be held on Tuesday, Tuesday February 9, 2021 starting at 7 p.m. For everyone's safety, we will be holding this meeting remotely via Zoom. To participate, make sure you have Zoom installed on your device: download Zoom
You will receive an invitation by e-mail early on the day of the meeting with a reminder shortly before the meeting.
The technical speaker for the evening will be Jurgen Goering of Piano Forte Supply Company in British Columbia, Canada. Jurgen will discuss piano felt, and take us on a visit to the felt room at Piano Forte.
Jurgen Goering started his career in piano technology in 1981 with a three and one-half year apprenticeship in Germany. After final exams he was issued his papers as a journeyman piano maker. Returning to Canada shortly afterward he began to work as an independent technician; he named his company Piano Forte.
Fast forward to 2004: Piano Forte Supply, the supply end of the business, was officially started. The thrust of this effort was to bring in specialty, high quality items from Europe to augment the selection of tools, parts and materials that were available to technicians and rebuilders in North America.
The supply end of the business has grown over the years and now takes up most of Jurgen's time. He is still in demand as a technician and aural tuner, both locally, on Vancouver Island in the Pacific Northwest, and also in the Canadian Arctic, where he has established a clientele which he services regularly.
His special interest is cloth and felt, and restoring vintage pianos. In his spare time he works on pianos in his collection, but also loves gardening, and woodworking, and enjoys exploring the beauty of the coastline where he lives in by row boat.
by Richard Liptzin - Secretary
The Zoom meeting was called to order by Mike Slavin at 7 p.m. Twelve members were present.
The technical was presented by Lloyd "Chip" Meyer, the manager of Renner Piano Supply USA.
Chip began with an overview of his company and how he helps techs in their business. He remarked that piano work and sales are good during this tough time.
Chip then gave a brief history of his company. Sample parts are good to have to test fit before purchase. Next was a video of the Renner USA company. Renner was founded in 1882. An important section was how he matches old parts to replacement parts. The meeting finished with a question and answer discussion.
The meeting adjourned at 8:25 p.m.
Michael Slavin passed along this picture of a staircase at Stony Brook University, State University of New York:
