The Piano Man
Richard always loved the sound a piano makes, and decided to apply for a course in piano work on a whim.
He had countless careers before (he says he’s had about 70 jobs) but he ended up finding what he was meant to do, and loving every minute of it.
SkillsOne visits Richard Andreoni, a Piano Technician or tuner, who tells us about what's involved in being a piano tuner. He tells us about how he got into the industry, and shows us around the detail of the grand piano and how to tune!
Richard Andreoni is now a highly regarded Piano expert, skilled in piano restoration and repair.
His clients include Sydney Theatre Company, NIDA, The History Houses Trust, as well as domestic clients with pianos in their homes.
Services he offers are: Piano tuning, Action Regulation, Repairs of all Kinds, Restoration of Piano, Sales of New and Used Pianos, Consultations and PianoDisc Installations/Sales.
Richard’s father drove taxis and fixed cars for a living, spurring Richard’s interest in mechanics and figuring out how things worked. He still rebuilds engines in his spare time to this day.
His fascination with pianos started out as a hobby, after falling in love with the instrument in his childhood.
He bought an inexpensive circa 1860s piano and decided to do it up, learning about the mechanics within as he went. During 1975 Richard heard about a piano work training course at the Conservatorium of Music that was being run by Yamaha and decided to apply.
Of the 200 people who applied he was one of six who were accepted. While he’d had numerous career paths before, when Yamaha advised that they would only accept people who wanted to stay in the industry for life (properly trained piano technicians were hard to find at the time), Richard agreed that he would do so.
He did the course for 12 months, earning him a trainee salary of only $30 per week while he worked six days a week with minimal time off. He learned all about tuning, piano parts, restoration and other tasks for piano maintenance.
After he completed the course he went on to work for a piano roll company. His knowledge and reputation has grown from there and he’s now one of the foremost experts in pianos in the country.
