“David is not only a technician but a musician with deep musical understanding”
Alexander Kobrin, 12th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition Winner
Musician
Technician
I am a lifelong musician, playing and singing since I was a child. After receiving an undergraduate music degree I worked as a performer and teacher for five years before beginning four years of training as an apprentice piano technician. For eight years after becoming a Registered Piano Technician, I ran piano service and rebuilding businesses for myself, technicians and piano retailers. I also began my career as a teacher and mentor of other technicians, teaching for the first of many times at The Piano Technicians Guild Convention and Institute, as well as at regional and local levels. Following this success, I moved to Austin Texas to begin what became 10 years as a technician at The University of Texas at Austin, maintaining their piano inventory as part of a team that rebuilt over fifty Steinway and Sons grand pianos in those ten years. I became one of Austin’s most sought after technicians, becoming first call tuner for many of Austin’s live music venues and recording studios. Additionally, I was a Concert and Artist technician for Steinway and Sons and Yamaha, working on countless stages and performances of all sizes, satisfying the tuning, regulation and voicing needs of the most discriminating professional musicians while maintaining a large in-home tuning and rebuilding clientele. During this time I began my extended factory training with both Yamaha and Steinway and Sons.
Leaving Austin for Tempe, Arizona I joined the technical team at Arizona State University and became part of the long tradition of fine piano technicians there. Covering over 750 events per year as part of a two-person team solidified my skills as a concert technician. International training in Vienna, Austria with Bösendorfer and with Schimmel in Braunschweig, Germany broadened my aesthetic, giving me extensive exposure to the third pillar of piano technical artistry. American, Asian and European pianos all have specific methods to produce their distinctive sound. I am deeply versed in all three aesthetics.
“David Brown is the consummate professional. He can be counted on to listen carefully to the needs and preferences of the pianist.”
Dr. Carol Leone, Meadows School of the Arts, SMU
Administrator
Restorer
In 2010 an opportunity presented itself to return to Texas as Head Technician at Southern Methodist University. I became responsible for the rebuilding and maintenance of the large inventory of instruments, serving almost 100 faculty and 300 music majors. Training student workers and teaching a piano technology class for undergraduate and graduate students strengthened my skill and love of teaching.
In 2013 I traveled to China as a consultant on a new prototype concert grand for a major manufacturer. I am a registered member of the Piano Technicians Guild and a member of Yamaha’s Performance Piano Service team, a 10 member group that services concert and home pianos for Yamaha and Bösendorfer throughout the US.
For the last five years I have also served as Assistant Director for Music Operations at SMU, scheduling all concerts and events, supervising stage management and ensembles. This has strengthened my organizational skills for large projects such as the lighting system replacement in Caruth Auditorium and the installation of Audio Over IP/Networked Audio throughout the Meadows School. This complements and enhances my ability to manage clients projects regardless of size or scope.