[Jan 26, 2010]
Crazy how time passes when you're not paying attention! Here's a thumbnail of what's been happening over the past 20 months (in no particular order):
My position U-M SMTD has only changed slightly; my official job title changed from administrative assistant to research process coordinator, and I'm now classified "exempt" (as opposed to "non-exempt") meaning I've gone from hourly to salaried. My duties now extend from assisting with the day-to-day operation of the U-M record label (Block M Records) to assisting the faculty with writing grants, to assisting with three community engagement programs (Michigan Youth Ensembles, MPulse, and Adult Summer Programs).

Last fall (Sept 2009), I discovered that the cause of the discomfort in my back (pain in the neck) is due to some moderate degeneration of the discs in the cervical portion of my spine. I consulted with several surgeons and decided that surgery will be my last resort. Meanwhile, in addition to having to miss out on several races, I had to reduce the amount of tuning work I was doing. I have since returned to a more or less steady number of tunings (4-6 per month) and anticipate that number to increase, slightly, over the next 6 months.

Having taken two trips to Florida, last year, I believe the consenus is that any vacations that the family takes, this summer, will be brief. I hope to complete several projects that I wasn't able to get around to, last summer, most notably the completion of an office/shop in the basement of my home which will provide a place to work on both jobs when the need arises.

I've adopted some new ways of communicating with my clients. You can now contact me through Facebook (Torrella Systems, LLC) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/Tuner_Ron), in addition to the "traditional" telephone and email! I've only just added the Torrella Systems Facebook group and Twitter - feel free to friend and follow!

I look forward to reaquainting myself with your piano, if I haven't seen it in ages! Please, do contact me if you'd like me to come for a visit!

[May 29, 2008]
If you have nothing better to do on Sunday, June 8, come down to the Kerrytown Concert House and hear a free concert given by Olivia Klein, a student at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School. She's an amazingly good violinist and I'm thrilled to be her accompanist for two of the pieces on the program: Henryk Wieniawski's Violin Concerto No. 2 in D minor, Op. 22 and Introduction and Tarantella by Pablo de Sarasate. Olivia will also perform the Saint-Saens Violin Concerto No. 3 in B minor, Op. 61 and several unaccompanied solo selections.

If you'd like a preview, check out Itzhak Perlman w/Samuel Sanders playing the Sarasate on YouTube, and Isaac Stern playing the first movement of the Wieniawski, also on YouTube.

I hope to see some familiar faces at the recital. It starts at 8pm.

N.B. The recital is given in hopes of raising a few dollars toward Olivia's trip to music camp in Pilsen, Czek Republic. Donations are welcome.

[May 14, 2008]

I've returned to my routine of scheduling regular tunings, having fully recovered from the hand injury. However, due to the increased demands of raising two children and maintaining a house, I've had to limit the number of tunings I can schedule to two or three a week. If you'd like to schedule a tuning, please send email to ron at torrellasystems dot com.

I still work at the U-M SMTD. In the last year, I've added Research Administration to my qualifications. In my capacity as a research administrator, I assist faculty with writing grants, developing budgets and presenting grant proposals. It's rewarding work in that the faculty with whom I have worked have, by and large, been satisfied with the process.

This summer, I will undertake replacing the action in a Steinway & Sons Model B for the St. Mary Catholic Church in Pinckney, MI. St. Mary-Pinckney has been one of my clients for about 8 years (I serviced their pianos while they were still in the old parish and school just north of downtown Pinckney on Pearl St., a.k.a. D-19). The parish recently acquired an spinet (donated to the school) that serves as a warm-up instrument for the children's mass choir. The spinet needs a bit of TLC before it'll be completely ready for service.

The big news in the Southeast Michigan region is that Hammell Music is closing. Apparently, the poor Michigan economy has finally caught up with piano sales forcing the closure. There is a possibility that Tim Hoy will open a smaller store under a new, as yet undetermined, name. The new store may be a Steinway distributor on a smaller scale. Whatever comes of it, I wish all of the staff at Hammell well. I they'll all find new employment - they're a tremendously talented bunch!

Another piano store recently closed its doors and reopened in a downsized version: King's Keyboard House, in Ann Arbor, moved just east of its former location. The music sales department moved out, shortly before the piano department moved, to a building that's a few doors down from the new King's location. Richard King's daughter, Julie, ran the music sales department from King's Keyboard and now owns the new store, Julie's Music. Jim King, Richard's son, runs the new piano store.

I look forward to reconnecting with those clients and pianos that I haven't seen in a very long time! Please feel free to email or call any time!

UPDATE!   [November 02, 2006]

On Thursday, Oct. 26, while on my noon run in Barton Park, I tripped over a chain spanning the access road to the Barton Dam and the Barton Nature Area. I landed squarely on my right hand, the result of which is a comminuted, intraarticular fracture of the distal radius - the impact crushed the lower end of my radius. I am scheduled for surgery to repair the damage on Thursday, Nov. 2 at 1:30. The recovery period could be as many as 6-8 weeks - I don't expect to do any piano work, playing, or other heavy lifting with my right hand, before 10 weeks at the earliest.

I will maintain a blog of my progress, if you care to follow along on my road to recovery.

[Sept. 12, 2006]

Beginning this fall, my position that the School of Music, Theatre & Dance (new name) has been readjusted so that I am now exclusively the administrative assistant for Mary Simoni, Associate Dean for Research and Planning and Chair of the Department of Performing Arts Technology. A large part of the work I now do centers on the U-M official record label, Block M Records, where I do paralegal work in copyright clearance and mechanical licensing for sound recordings released by Block M in the Apple iTunes Store. In general, I provide legal assistance to the School of Music, Theatre & Dance in the areas of intellectual properties (copyright), contracts, and university policy.

I continue to provide piano technical services to my private clients, although I have reduced the number of tunings I do per month. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like to set up a tuning appointment.

[05-11-2005]

Good News!! On May 1st, I began my new job at the University of Michigan School of Music. Although the job title hasn't been worked out yet, it amounts to a combination of administrative assistant and legal assistant. I provide administrative support to Daniel Washington, Associate Dean for Minority Services and Associate Professor of Voice, and Mary Simoni, Associate Dean for Technology Initiatives and Internet Publication, Associate Professor of Music Technology and Chair of the Department of Performing Arts Technology. Each of the positions I hold carries specialized responsibilities including counseling and legal assisting, respectively. I am excited about the opportunity to expand my professional horizons, particularly my involvement in the School of Music Internet Publication Project! The exposure to copyright law that I have received as a result of my participation in that project has thrown open the door to tremendous opportunity.

I'm also thrilled to be able to return to providing technical support to my many private clients. The medical restriction that prevented me from working outside of the University became moot when I was reassigned within the department, so I have returned to my private practice. I am currently working through a backlog of requests, in addition to the current, regularly scheduled appointments. Please do not hesitate to contact me if your piano is in dire straits and I will try to fit you in as soon as possible.

I look forward to seeing the "patients" I've missed over the past six months!

[03-13-2005]

In November 2004, I was placed on medical restriction by the University of Michigan worker's compensation physicians, pending medical treatment and diagnosis. The restriction forced me to refer all of my regularly scheduled service calls to several local technicians--ethically, I could not continue tuning and servicing pianos outside of the University.

In late February 2005, I was diagnosed as having developed an arthritic condition in my hands. That diagnosis has forced me to seek assignment away from piano technology at the School of Music. I have consulted several surgeons and consensus is that, as long as I find other employment within the University, I should be able to continue servicing my private clients' pianos into the foreseeable future.

Currently, I am temporarily filling a vacancy in the Michigan Youth Ensembles office, coordinating piano technical services for the School of Music, and working with the Associate Dean for Technology Initiative and Internet Publication on the School of Music Internet Publication Project. Although the Dean has assured me that a plan to reassign me within the department is in the works, I do not know when the reassignment will happen. Until then, I will continue to refer all regular and necessary tunings. It is my fervent hope that I will be able to resume servicing my clients' pianos at the end of March 2005.

I will update my situation on this page as the information becomes available.

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This page was last updated: 11/02/2006