“In 1999, I was like, ‘I’m going to be a storm chaser,’” says Harvard’s lead piano technician Mariana Quinn, who oversees the maintenance of the University’s more than 200 pianos. Although her father was a piano technician and musician, she had no desire to enter the family business. She took one geological sciences course in college and thought, “I’ve found my niche.” But in 2005, she was working as a geological mapper for the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Service when her father died and “everything changed.” Suddenly, she realized that she wanted to “honor his legacy and follow in his footsteps.” She enrolled in the same piano technician program he’d once attended, Boston’s North Bennet Street School, and learned to tune piano by ear in the same rooms he had. “It helped the healing process,” she says. “I felt much closer to him.” Quinn is a music aficionado—the only genres she doesn’t care for are zydeco and “easy listening”—but unlike her father, she’s not a musician. “I played flute as a kid, but that’s barely worth mentioning,” she says. Tuning, however, is a scientific, experimental process for her, “like trying to fit pieces into a puzzle with definite borders—in this case, octaves.” Analytically minded, she says she’s “not a spiritual person at all, really,” but she admits piano tuning has brought her experiences she can’t explain. Her first six months as a technician, she tuned the pianos of her father’s former clients—the last ones he ever serviced. Improbably, every piano was still perfectly in tune, as if her father were still looking out for her. She teared up. “I remember thinking, is he still here with me?”
Tuning Pianos with Mariana Quinn
A former geologist follows her piano-tuner father’s footsteps.
Photograph by Stu Rosner
You might also like
A New Chapter for Harvard Arts
The Office for the Arts turns 50, and its longtime director steps down.
Education School Announces Interim Dean
Nonie Lesaux will serve as dean during the search for a new one.
Harvard Students form Pro-Palestine Encampment
Protesters set up camp in Harvard Yard.
Most popular
More to explore
What is the Best Breakfast and Lunch in Harvard Square?
The cafés and restaurants of Harvard Square sure to impress for breakfast and lunch.
How Homelessness is a Public Health Crisis
Homelessness has surged in the United States, with devastating effects on the public health system.
Portfolio Diet May Reduce Long-Term Risk of Heart Disease and Stroke, Harvard Researchers Find
A little-known diet improves cardiovascular health through several distinct mechanisms.