Before he could reach the keys, Matt McClellen always wanted to learn to play and fix pianos. His fascination with music began when he heard old ragtime and Beatles LP’s at the age of three, and he would sing and dance to them. A couple of years later, he joined his local church choir, and at eight years old he begged his parents to take piano lessons. Saxophone propelled and fed the love of music from 5th grade through college with a Minor in Music and a Bachelors in Business from the University of Iowa. At a young age, Matt equipped himself with basic tools and tore into washers, dryers, radios, bicycles, houses, and cars–but pianos proved to be both elusive and fascinating to him. He found inspiration and encouragement from local churches, schools and communities, and began to train for his dream job by working on their seemingly endless supply of out-of-tune pianos.
In 1997 an article in the Iowa City Press Citizen showcased the profession of aging piano tuners, as well as the schools where one could study to learn the profession. Matt saved that article until 2001, when chance led him to take up temporary winter residence in Minneapolis to attend the Minnesota School of Piano Technology.
Since his training in 2001, he has worked with many other experienced technicians and attended several factory training seminars to further his abilities. Matt Has attended training at Yamaha for The Little Red School House, 37 Steps of Regulation and The Performance Piano Service Seminar. He has also received training from Steinway & Sons on Grand Regulation and Touch Control. Matt is a qualified service technician for PianoDisc and Yamaha Disklavier player pianos.
Matt loves his job: “No matter what I work with, I strive to make it better. Pianos are the perfect outlet for my obsession because they have no limit to what you can learn to play or how well they can be tuned, regulated and voiced. Unless it’s a spinet. Don’t play a spinet.”
Phone: 319.351.2000 (Direct) – 800.373.2000 (Toll-free)
Email: mmcclellen@westmusic.com.