Our Team

What’s the most inspiring part of your job?

Helping people find the instrument that fit them best.

Who’s your favorite composer/musician and why?

Chopin. The pieces are so touching that you can always find a right piece for the right moment.

Favorite book?

The Great Pianists.

What else would you like customers to know about you?

It's fun to work with anyone who likes music.

How long have you worked with us?

Since November of 2013.

What’s the most inspiring part of your job?

Meeting people, learning their stories, finding the right piano match, and leaning later how their experience enhanced their life in some very positive way.

Who’s your favorite composer/musician and why?

I could never limit it to one! It depends on my mood! Here's an incredibly limited list, not in any particular order: Bach, Chopin, Bill Evans, 1950's and 60's Miles Davis, Dexter Gordon, Herbie Hancock, Andre Mehmari, Andre Segovia, Norah Jones, Matt Rollings, Paul McCartney. Why? Because they each in their own way capture my own inconsolable longing for heaven, shalom, or my "true home."

If you were a superhero, what superpower would you want?

Is there a superhero with perfect pitch? That would work for me! Captain Pitch?

What’s your educational and/or musical background?

Bachelor of Sciences degree in Psychology with a minor in Piano Performance. Over 40 years of piano playing experience and 20 years as a piano technician.

What’s the most inspiring part of your job?

Being able to continue to be musical in my professional life here at Classic Pianos while helping to find amazing pianos for wonderful families.

Favorite quote:

“Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid.” -Frank Zappa

What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?

Be patient, humble and empathetic to others.

What’s the most inspiring part of your job?

Being surrounded by a creative team and customers. Being able to be part of the process of helping people feel good about investing in a beautiful instrument.

Who’s your favorite composer/musician and why?

Milton Nascimento. A prominent Brazilian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who found fame with his falsetto and tonal range, his voice being described as ‘haunting’ and ‘something from heaven. I love Nascimento because he likes his work to mean something and to make an impact both politically and emotionally.

What else would you like our customers to know about you?

I speak three languages: English, Portuguese and Spanish.

What's your perfect Saturday night?

Gathering with friends over a nice meal and making music.

How long have you worked with us?

I began tuning pianos at the store in 2015, and I have been a full-time staff technician since 2018.

What’s the most inspiring part of your job?

So many things! Pianos are also endlessly fascinating to me, both as a unique piece of technology that is the result of 300+ years of developments, and for the great depth of music that has been written for and performed on them throughout that history. I love how my work is a combination of so many different interrelated subjects -- music theory, physics, aural and tactile perception, and craftsmanship, to start. And working in this very active corner of the piano industry keeps me engaged and learning, every day.

What else would you like our customers to know about you?

I love working with picky pianists, they keep me sharp!

Who’s your favorite composer/musician and why?

My favorite composer is Erik Satie because his music brings me a great calm feeling. I would also say Jimi Hendrix because he absolutely shredded!

Favorite quote:

“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in."

If you were a superhero, what superpower would you want?

"Buffing-vision". A superpower I made up where I look at a piano and the scratches instantly disappear.

What else would you like our customers to know about you?

I grew up near Mt. Rainier National Park and love the outdoors here in the Pacific Northwest! I enjoy hunting, fishing, and hiking. If you've never been to the national park, I encourage you to check it out.

What’s the most inspiring part of your job?

I really enjoy seeing people making music a larger part of their life by bringing a piano home. I also enjoy working with a great team of people.

What's your perfect Saturday night?

Curling up with a good book.

What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?

Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened. 

What else would you like our customers to know about you?

I have five kids. Two of them are humans. 

What’s your educational and/or musical background?

University of Michigan School of Music. Singing and playing in numbers combos, bands and choirs since grade school.

What’s the most inspiring part of your job?

Meeting new clients from every part of the globe on a daily basis. The satisfaction of improving the sound and playability of a piano which in turn fuels the player's passion and inspiration for music.

Who’s your favorite composer/musician and why?

Inconceivable to land on just one: Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell, Beatles, Petty, Rickie Lee Jones, Ravel, Couperin, Scarlatti, Bach, and on and on...

What else would you like our customers to know about you?

"If you're not having fun... you're doing something wrong." (Groucho Marx)