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r2 weekendekifebruaryi 1992 piano man kent stallah of stouffville purveys a dying craft kent stallan is a craftsman a purveyor of a dying art in an age when electronics has rendered so many oldfashioned pastimes obsolete he is a piano tuner or as he prefers to be called a tuner tech nician in deference to his years of training at george brown col lege in toronto its the only insti tution in canada which still offers this training kent claims to be a bit of an enigma hes a young 38 years sighted piano tuner with not even a trace of grey hair practic ing an art form traditionally associated with men oftimes blind who are approaching their senior years the commonly accepted stereo type he explains came about as the result of the gap that occurred in the training of piano tuners in canada when the last of the nations piano factories of which there were approximately 200 in 1910 closed up shop in the 1970s with no one left to pass on the craft there were no new tuners certified george brown initiated its program some 15 years after tit the j e v faucetworks annual winter sale off on all instore merchandise 2540 huog saving s 8407 woodbine ave markham 4756297 open house week feb 28 th off bring a friend get for prices include diaries evaluation i would recommend beverly jfitts to my f amity friends it is the easiest program that i have been on kathy pearson of our whitby clinic lost 81 lbs 65 inches mondayfriday 97 saturday 91 li6fiflfam7fautf to everyone welcome come in enter our draw for a weight loss program markham 4981hwy7unit8 4776999 consultations are free so book yours today full programs new clients product not included look for us in the yellow pages from where ilive bruce stapley the last piano had been built in this country and with the college sending out only 20 graduates every two years the market is less than flooded kent had originally set out to become an accomplished pianist studying intensely from the age ofl3rightintohis20s but he decided he didnt want to be a starving artist and turned a summer job as a pipe organ tuner into a full time pur suit servicing the big instru ments used by the conklin shows people he tuned pipe organs for the organ grinder in toronto and adjusted the player pianos at mothers restaurants deciding he wanted to broaden his scope kent finally enrolled at george brown at the age of 28 upon completing the course he set up his own business in toron to in 1984 it was while he was tuning a piano on the outskirts of uxbridge he decided he would rather live in a small town he convinced his wife betty that this was where they should be and they moved to stouffville in 1988 where kent set up shop in his home he now makes house calls as far away as tbronto but prefers to seek out the number of people in york and durham regions who still own or have recently acquired pianos he also restores vintage pianos with his coup de grace having been the refurbishing of an 1863 grand piano from england he is currently working on an 1891 classic from germany and he recently sold a 1904 heintz- man to an uxbridge woman his job brings with it a variety of perks just the other week he tuned an old player for a toronto restaurateur upon completing the task he and his customer proceeded to pump away at the pedals of the forerunner to todays karaoke machines until midnight they went through music roll after music roll while consuming gourmet delights from the mans place of business as one of only a handful of piano tuners in the area kent is less concerned with competition than he is with the proliferation of the traditional piano the instrument has been a dying entity since the 1920s when the popularity of radio and eventually the advent of tv and video succeeded in prying people away from their pianos but the trend today says kent is toward bringing back the vin tage uprights both canadian and foreignmade he had worried that the intro duction of the electric piano would hammer the last nail into the coffin of the traditional piano but hes found there are still many traditionalists out there intent on hanging onto their old models as for the future kent admits he doesnt know exactly what lies ahead for the instrument that provides him with his living but he is relatively confident that with so few people entering the trade there will always be work for huh to do hot pre season prices air conditioning from 1199 plus free humidifier also super prices on security packages central vacuum intercoms central home systems west 4972434 central 4972721 east 4772866 18002636031 ta- dont miss this great chance to increase your sales with this timely coupon savers page every wednesday in the markham economist and sun featuring up front positioning 2 colours at a low low price i5isk ysay goodbye to pom mxiffiail sales wffishgte faranj cocpoa to be w jgywi reflect food vibe for die aatooer to book your coupon call the markham economist sun display dept at 2942200 i m mm