Contact Horace Greeley

Horace Greeley began his musical instruction at the age of three,

studying piano with a student of Lesitchitsky. Taking up the bassoon

nine years later, he stopped studying piano in order to concentrate on

the bassoon. He studied bassoon with Frederick W. Moritz (long-time

Principal Bassoon of the Los Angeles Philharmonic). As that study

unfolded, he studied theory and composition with a student of Nadia

Boulanger; and conducting with Frederick Zweig, a former Principal

Conductor of the Berlin Opera. Later, as Principal Bassoon of the

Blomstedt International Conducting Workshop (held at Loma Linda

University), he studied conducting with Maestro Blomstedt during the

fifteen years that the workshop was held.

In support of both his study of conducting, and his growing work doing

concert and recording work for Steinway, Bosendorfer, Kawai, and Yamaha,

Mr. Greeley attended or participated in a number of Master Classes.

Vocal, master classes in opera and/or art song with Jan Popper, Natalie

Limonick, Sergei Leiferkus, Martial Singher, and Stephan

Bauer-Mengelberg, among others. Chamber Music Master Classes included

working with Mitchell Lurie, Roger Stevens, William Criss, Norman

Herzberg, Henri Temianka, Gabor Rejto, Alice and Eleanor Shoenfeld,

Louis Kievman, the Beaux Arts Trio, and the Guarneri Quartet, among

others. Piano Master Classes have included ones with Jakob Gimpel,

Reginald Stewart, Emmanuel Bay, Peter and Rudolf Serkin, Shura

Churkassky, Jeffrey Kahane, John Perry, Gwendolyn Koldowsky, John

O’Conor, and Dubravka Tomsic, among others.

Mr. Greeley says: “While in part motivated by my work as a concert piano

technician, my interest in piano performance techniques extended far

beyond that. My own nine-year study of the piano provided the

foundation on which all of my other musical work has been based. Much

of the success that I have had as a musician and concert technician has

been grounded by paying very close attention to the teaching and

performance techniques of the artists like those mentioned above.”

Mr. Greeley began a two-year apprenticeship in piano technology in the

Summer of 1966. In 1968, he began work as the concert technician for

Cerritos Community College, Cerritos, CA. Coming to the attention of

the Steinway Concert & Artist Department for Los Angeles, in 1969, he

was invited to attend seminars at both Steinway Hall and the Steinway

Factory in New York. From then until 1995, he spent an average of two

weeks per year in further training at Steinway & Sons, with the time

split roughly evenly between the Hall and the Factory. These trips were

to take advantage of further training opportunities made available to me

by Steinway and Sons. Areas of training included: design and

construction, learning many specific manufacturing techniques unique to

Steinway; and concentrating extensively on the concert preparation of

instruments for top artists. In 1970, Mr. Greeley became the Head

Concert Technician for the UCLA Center for the Performing Arts, Royce

Hall, UCLA; a position he held until his relocation to the San Francisco

Area in 1987. Since 1970, Mr. Greeley has worked in a wide variety of

venues, supporting many artists in varying situations; and providing

top-quality service to a large number of private clients.

Examples of his references include the following:

Mr. Greeley will be accepting appointments in Western Pierce and

portions of Western King Counties; and Kitsap County again starting in

mid-May. Other locations may be possible. If you need tuning or other

service of your piano before that time, please let me know; and we’ll

see what might be worked out.

Please contact him for an appointment via the link labeled Scheduling, or by text at: 650.954.6620.