About Us

Piano Tuner-Technician

Horace Greeley

Horace Greeley began his musical instruction at the age of three, studying piano with a student of Lesitchitsky. Taking up the bassoon nine years later, he stopped studying piano in order to concentrate on the bassoon. He studied bassoon with Frederick W. Moritz (long-time Principal Bassoon of the Los Angeles Philharmonic). As that study unfolded, he studied theory and composition with a student of Nadia Boulanger, analysis with a student of Heinrich Schenker; and conducting with Frederick Zweig, a former Principal Conductor of the Berlin Opera. Later, as Principal Bassoon of the Blomstedt International Conducting Workshop (held at Loma Linda University), he studied conducting with Maestro Blomstedt during the fifteen years that the workshop was held.

In support of both his study of conducting, and his growing work doing concert and recording work for Steinway, Bosendorfer, Baldwin, Yamaha, and Kawai, Mr. Greeley attended or participated in a number of Master Classes.

Mr. Greeley says: “While in part motivated by my work as a concert piano technician, my interest in piano performance techniques extended far beyond that. My own nine-year study of the piano provided the foundation on which all of my other musical work has been based. Much of the success that I have had as a musician and concert technician has been grounded by paying very close attention to the teaching and performance techniques of the artists like those mentioned above.”

Mr. Greeley began a two-year apprenticeship in piano technology in the Summer of 1966. In 1968, he began work as the concert technician for Cerritos Community College, Cerritos, CA. Quickly coming to the attention of the Steinway Concert & Artist Department for Los Angeles, in 1969 he was invited to attend seminars at both Steinway Hall and the Steinway Factory in New York. From then until 1995, he spent an average of two weeks per year in further training at Steinway & Sons, with the time split roughly evenly between the Hall and the Factory. These trips were to take advantage of further training opportunities made available to him by Steinway and Sons. Areas of training included: design and construction, learning many specific manufacturing techniques unique to Steinway; and concentrating extensively on the concert preparation of instruments for top artists for public performances as well as for recording purposes. Mr. Greeley has also attended numerous technical seminars provided by Yamaha, Baldwin, Bosendorfer, and Kawai.

In 1970, Mr. Greeley became the Head Concert Technician for the UCLA Center for the Performing Arts, Royce Hall, UCLA; a position he held until his relocation to the San Francisco Area in 1987. In 1986, Mr. Greeley became the technician for the Monterey Symphony, Monterey, CA; a position he held until 2018. As a master Steinway technician, Mr. Greeley has worked in a wide variety of venues, supporting many artists in varying situations; and providing top-quality service to a large number of private clients.

Horace Greeley is proud to have worked with these artists, among many others.

Marcello Abbado
John Kenneth Adams
Géza Anda
Mark Anderson
Leif Ove Andsnes
Martha Argerich
Andrew Armstrong
Claudio Arrau
Vladimir Ashkenazy
Emanuel Ax
Daniel Barenboim
Leon Bates
David Benoit
Boris Berman
Lazar Berman
Seymour Bernstein
Michel Béroff
Philippe Bianconi
Jeffrey Biegel
Idil Biret
Jonathan Biss
Robert Blocker
Daniel Blumenthal
Hans Boepple
William Bolcom

,

Claude Bolling
James Bonn
Alfred Brendel
Yefim Bronfman
Ray Brown
John Browning
Dave Brubeck
Bruce Brubaker
Rudolf Buchbinder
David Buechner
Anthony di Bonaventura
Pedro Carbone
Judy Carmichael
Ray Charles
Zhengyu Chen
Shura Cherkassky
Gabriel Chodos
Van Cliburn
Cy Coleman
Donna Coleman
Jean-Philippe Collard
Judy Collins
Harry Connick, Jr.
Imogen Cooper
Chick Corea

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John Corigliano
Paul Crossley
James D’Leon
Bella Davidovich
Denis Russell Davies
Monte Hill Davis
Sammy Davis, Jr.
Eduardo Delgado
Michael Davidman
Jörg Demus
Jeremy Denk
Helmut Deutsch
Cipa Dichter
Misha Dichter
Barry Douglas
Danny Driver
David Dubal
Sergei Edelmann
Duke Ellington
Keith Emerson
Christoph Eschenbach
Jose Fegali
Alan Feinberg
Michael Feinstein
Vladimir Feltsman

,

Janina Fialkowska
Charles Fierro
Rudolf Firkusny
Ella Fitzgerald
Tommy Flanagan
Juan Perez Floristan
Claude Frank
Peter Frankl
Robert Freeman
Nelson Freire
Benjamin Frith
Tanya Gabrielian
Bruno Leonardo Gelber
Kirill Gerstein
Paolo Giacometti
Emil Gilels
Richard Glazier
Mona Golabek
Richard Goode
Stewart Goodyear
Stewart Gordon
Steven Graff
Gary Graffman
Robert M. Greenberg
Hélène Grimaud

,

Friederich Gulda
Elena Gurevich
Horacio Gutiérrez
Ingrid Haebler
Wu Han
Herbie Hancock
Mark Hansen
Heidi Hau
Scott Healy
Skitch Henderson
Fred Hersch
Ian Hobson
David Hollander
Lorin Hollander
Shirley Horn
Bruce Hornsby
Stephen Hough
Leslie Howard
Eugene Istomin
Katherine Jacobson-Fleisher
Ahmad Jamal
Keith Jarrett
Al Jarreau
Billy Joel

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Gunnar Johansen
Martin Jones
Quincy Delight Jones, Jr.
Susan Kagan
Joseph Kalichstein
Lilian Kalir
Yacov Kasman
Martin Katz
Constance Keene
Olga Kern
Oliver Kern
Evgeny Kissin
Andreas Klein
Zoltan Kocsis
Stephen Kovacevich
Diana Krall
Dean Kramer
Lili Kraus
Katia Labèque
Marielle Labèque
Ruth Laredo
Yusef Lateef
Michel Legrand
Tania León
Robert Levin

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James Levine
Michael Lewin
John Lewis
Ramsey Lewis
Dorothy Lewis-Griffith
Cecile Licad
Eugene List
Seymour Lipkin
Andrew Litton
Iwan Llewelyn-Jones
Mike Longo
Louis Lortie
Jerome Lowenthal
Brenda Lucas-Ogdon
Andrea Lucchesini
Radu Lupu
Faina Lushtak
Alicia de Larrocha
Nikita Magaloff
Juliana Markova
Wynton Marsalis
Ivan Martin
Peter Martin
Joao Carlos Martins
James Mathis

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Lincoln Mayorga
Bill Mays
Robin McCabe
Brad Mehldau
Alexander Melnikov
Jeremy Menuhin
Pat Metheny
Philip Moore
Péter Nagy
Jon Nakamatsu
Emile Naoumoff
John Nauman
Marc Neikrug
Anton Nel
Peter Nero
Randy Newman
Erika Nickrenz
Christine Niehaus
Tatiana Nikolaeva
Barbara Nissman
Michael Noble
Minoru Nojima
John Novacek
John O’Conor
Christopher O’Riley

,

John Ogdon
Garrick Ohlsson
Caroline Oltmanns
Ursula Oppens
Gerhard Oppitz
Lambert Orkis
Peter Orth
Cristina Ortiz
Jorge Federico Osorio
Leann Osterkamp
Thomas Otten
Kun-Woo Paik
Jon Kimura Parker
Murray Perahia
Enrique Pérez de Guzmán
Navah Perlman
John Perry
Oscar Peterson
Anna Petrova
Michel Petrucciani
Danial del Pino
Ivo Pogorelich
Daniel Pollack
Maurizio Pollini
Jean-Bernard Pommier

,

Michael Ponti
Menahem Pressler
Elisabeth Pridonoff
Eugene Pridonoff
Robert Pritchard
Dimitri Ratser
Franko Richmond
Gerald Robbins
Pascal Rogé
Arthur Rubinstein
Joe Sample
Gyorgy Sandor
José Sandoval
Ann Schein
Paul Schenly
Lalo Schifrin
André-Michel Schub
Michael Sellers
Peter Serkin
Rudolf Serkin
Orli Shaham
Rodion Shchedrin
Howard Shelley
Craig Sheppard
Jeffrey Siegel

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Nina Simone
Frank Sinatra
Alexander Slobodyanik
Grigory Sokolov
Josu De Solaun Soto
Laura Spitzer
Jean-Louis Steuerman
Delores Stevens
Liz Story
John Talbot
Margaret Leng Tan
Melvyn Tan
Robert Taub
Dr. Billy Taylor
Jean-Yves Thibaudet
Anthony Tobin
James Tocco
Arthur Tollefson
Dubravka Tomsic Srebotnjak
Alexander Toradze
Allen Toussaint
Rosalyn Tureck
McCoy Tyner
Mitsuko Uchida

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Memberships & Affiliations

Testimonials

“”

Mr. Greeley is that rare example of the tuner/technician as artist. His values, both musical and personal, are reflected in the level of excellence that he brings to his craft. His work is nothing less than legendary among my colleagues.

John McCarthy

Pianist and Pedagogue, Director Emeritus and Piano Faculty
San Francisco Conservatory of Music

“”

I have known Horace for a good number of years as one of the few excellent Piano Technicians who perform their task of piano work to the satisfaction of his clients, may they be in the Concert & Artist World, or in the general music field which is entitled as much as the Concert Artist to an excellent job in tuning, regulating, and voicing of an instrument.

Franz Mohr

Chief Concert Technician Emeritus
Concert and Artist Department
Steinway & Sons

“”

I have had the pleasure of knowing Mr. Horace Greeley for nearly fifteen years. During that time, Mr. Greeley has provided technical service of the highest calibre to many world class Steinway Artists. Mr. Greeley has provided our firm with frequent consultation in Steinway service matters throughout California and has received specialized training by our Steinway concert technicians here at Steinway Hall and by senior craftsmen at our Factory in Long Island City, New York.

Mr. Greeley possesses a unique understanding of the artistic requirements of performing artists which makes him exceptionally well-qualified for concert work. His skills in concert tuning, tone regulation and action regulation of the Steinway piano allow me the opportunity to recommend him unconditionally for the servicing of Steinway concert instruments.

Peter B. Goodrich

Vice President for Concert & Artist Affairs (retired)
Steinway & Sons

“”

A technician of formidable ability.

Francis Mehaffey

Deceased
RIP, Francis