ORANGE COUNTY CHAPTER
No Orange County Chapter Meeting in March
Greetings to all Southern California piano technicians and readers of the PTG Southern California Newsletter.
Last month Los Angeles' finest harpsichord builder, Curtis Berak, gave a program titled, "All About Harpsichords." Curtis brought in a harpsichord that he had built himself based on original Flemish design. His reproduction took him three years to build and is decorated with incredibly beautiful yet very simple art work he did himself. He had a huge collection of photos comparing the Italian and Flemish design and explained the differences. In building harpsichords, he begins with historical models and optimizes them for modern usage. He explained how the action works and some of the problems that arise in regulation. We also discussed the availability of parts and the pitfalls of the kits that are sold to build your own harpsicord at home.
Curtis provides harpsichords for the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and many other venues! He also has a large collection of historical instruments. Curtis is a very informative and an interesting guy. The meeting was well attended and the large boisterous crowd was treated with delicious sandwiches and sweets for snacks. Also, Dick Cabe stepped up and gave an impromptu five minute technical on Pedal Maintenance.
It was a fun time with old friends.
We will not be meeting this month because there is a joint chapter event hosted by Pomona Valley Chapter on March 18 & 19 that we hope you will attend. All the information is available at www.socalptg.com.
C ya soon.