![]() ![]() “Today I’d be dead or living in retirement on an island - in Cuba.”Īt Steinway’s he worked as a messenger and receptionist, although he always told his boss that he wanted to learn. “I couldn’t be a pilot,” he says, with amusement. When he came to the United States, he applied for a job at Steinway & Sons and volunteered for the Air Force. ![]() “The piano is an instrument that enters the body through the ears and that connection is lost when you use an electronic tuner.”Īt the age of 19, he abandoned the idea of being a pianist, because he didn’t like the idea of practicing long hours and didn’t have money to go to music school. “What do you hear in this fifth?” “Tell me about a situation you found.” The master prefers the essence, the classic methods. With a poor memory for names, Tomescu is a Socratic teacher. Students come from Havana, Matanzas, Cienfuegos, Sancti Spiritus, Villa Clara, Granma and the Isle of Youth. The classroom is the San Felipe Neri Oratorium, blackboard and all. This year, for the first time, the Romanian-born expert is giving a master class for Cuban piano mechanics, tuners and repairmen. The Basílica Menor is part of the San Francisco de Asis Convent in Old Havana. “How’s the Basílica piano doing?” Tomescu asks, like a doctor asking about a patient. For six days, he worked eight hours a day, with the help of Onis Marín, tuner for the Historic Center of Old Havana. Last year, Tomescu was also here, changing hammers and strings. “He told me that they needed a technician and I answered: ‘Well, that’s my dream - going to Cuba.'” When in 2013 Manhattan School of Music professor Solomon Mikowsky invited him to come for the first Encounter of Young Pianists, Mikowsky didn’t have to convince him. HAVANA - Ludwig Tomescu is one of the best piano tuners in New York, after more than 30 years with Steinway & Sons. ![]()
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