Keys and Hammers- wfsu.org/hammersandkeys WFSU-TV takes a look at one of FSU’s most innovative graduate programs. ENCORE PRESENTATION!!! Wednesday, January 21 at 7:30 PM/EST on WFSU-TV The grand piano is one of the largest and most complex instruments in the world. Musicians who master the piano are capable of coaxing from it sounds ranging from delicate and fragile to thunderous. They can do so because the instrument and its hundreds of intricate moving parts, dozens of rugged strings, and several large sturdy structural pieces are well maintained. So while a masterful concert soloist or gifted jazz player receives praise and respect from music loving audiences, few outside of the pianists themselves give credit to the people whose multi-disciplinary skills and knowledge maintain a piano: the piano technician. WFSU-TV explores what goes into becoming a top piano technician in Keys and Hammers: Piano Technology at Florida State University. A production crew spent over a year with two graduate students in the Piano Technology Masters program at Florida State University. Jennifer Roberts and Amy Porter were essentially members of the Piano Technology Department headed by director Anne Garee, RPT, who initiated the degree program to fill a void in the profession. The students each maintained fifty of FSU’s pianos as well as historical keyboard instruments like harpsichords and forte pianos. The most rigorous of their assignments (and a main focus of this special) is the total reconstruction of a 1954 Mason & Hamlin grand piano. When Anne and her students discovered the piano, it was being stored on its side and in need of major renovation. As it turns out, it was one of two identical instruments purchased by Florida State University in 1954. One of them resides at WFSU-TV, being used for such music programs as outloud. The other had all of its interior components removed and rebuilt/ reworked in what equates to a thesis project. Each component presented its own challenges, and called upon skills in diverse fields. Amy and Jen honed their woodworking skills in creating a new pinblock, practiced the physics of action reweighting and rebalancing, and used chemicals and solvents to finish- or voice- the soundboard. It was a lot of intricate work, a lot of data analysis, and a lot of sweat and elbow grease work as well. When the piano was ready, it was transported to WFSU-TV Studio A for a debut performance alongside its long lost sibling. The performance started with The Mastrogiacomo Duo (husband and wife team Leonard and Norma). Then, the newly renovated piano stood alone for performances by FSU faculty members Heidi Louise Williams and Bill Peterson.