Tuning Pianos with Mariana Quinn

A former geologist follows her piano-tuner father’s footsteps.

Mariana Quinn

Mariana Quinn

Photograph by Stu Rosner

“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?”

Read more articles by Nancy Walecki

You might also like

How to Cook with Wild Plants

From wild greens spanakopita to rose petal panna cotta, forager and chef Ellen Zachos makes one-of-a-kind meals.

For This Poet, AI is a Writing Partner

Sasha Stiles trained a chatbot on her manuscripts. Now, her poems rewrite themselves.

A New ‘Black Swan’ Musical Cranks Up the Tension

The creative team of the A.R.T.’s new show dish on adapting Darren Aronofsky’s thriller classic from screen to stage.

Most popular

Harvard study: termite mounds circulate air, sneezing once a day

Physicists look into the function of towering termite mounds.

Martin Nowak Placed on Leave a Second Time

Further links to Jeffrey Epstein surface in newly released files.

At Harvard, Mitt Romney Warns Against ‘Authoritarian’ Presidential Power

The former senator touched on polarization, tech governance, and diplomacy during a conversation at the Institute of Politics.

Explore More From Current Issue

Historical battle scene with soldiers in red and blue uniforms, flags waving, chaotic action.

The Harvard-Trained Doctor Who Urged a Revolution

Before his heroic death, General Joseph Warren was dubbed “the greatest incendiary in all of America.”

White House and Harvard University buildings split diagonally with contrasting colors.

Harvard Weathers a Year of Turmoil

The federal government has launched unprecedented actions against the University. Here’s a guide.

Woman with long hair, smiling, wearing a black sweater, in a textured beige background.

For This Poet, AI is a Writing Partner

Sasha Stiles trained a chatbot on her manuscripts. Now, her poems rewrite themselves.