Christopher Hill, RPT
609-426-1818 cell
I took my first piano apart the day it arrived in my house. (Surprisingly, my mother thought it was amusing.) What an incredible invention! A felt covered wood hammer strikes a string and it can be heard through an orchestra to the very back row of an auditorium.
As a student at The Mason Gross School Of The Arts at Rutgers I mentioned my desire to become a tuner/technician to my piano teacher, Mr. Samuel Dillworth-Leslie. He immediately put me in touch with his favorite piano tuner, Mr. Dominick Balzano. Mr. Balzano welcomed me into his shop in Manville and began teaching me over the summer of my Junior year. He didn’t have time for a full time apprentice, but he found for me someone who did.
Mr. Glenn Shirey of Toms River was a great teacher, and taught many tuners who now work in our area and beyond!
Freehold Music Center hired me on August 2, 1982. Mr. Michael Deihl was a tough boss. Looking back, it was exactly what I needed to get better AND faster at my job.
A sudden change in company structure forced the tuning staff into self employment in 1985. As a very young tuner it was terrifying. Yet it worked out perfectly for me. I built the business that I have today.
Although I knew everything (….ahem…) my professional life really took a jolt from my meeting Mr. Joe Vizzini in the early 1990’s. He taught me everything I didn’t know about what I thought I knew. (If that’s how you would put it…)
I am in so much debt to these fine people, and more. Especially my clients! I have worked full time, for over forty-one years, on the instrument that I love. To be invited into someone’s home to work on their prized possession is an honor!
I travel to homes, churches, schools, synagogues, assisted living facilities, hotels, and concert venues.
If you are interested in some of the acts and people I have worked for check out my “name drop” page. They represent some interesting stories!
-Chris