When it was time to prepare for a concert, Frank Sinatra could have had his pick of any piano tuner in the world. The same went for Victor Borge, Roger Williams and Bruce Hornsby. When these legendary musicians needed their keyboards prepared for a performance, they called on Robert 鈥淏ob鈥� Cloutier.
In the first two-thirds of his 34-year career, Cloutier, an expert piano technician specializing in concert preparation of Steinway grand pianos, earned a national reputation working with a who鈥檚 who list of musicians and Hollywood movie and recording studios.
For the past 12 years, the College of Music has benefitted from Cloutier鈥檚 skills. As the senior piano technician for the music college, he is responsible for tuning and restoring the college鈥檚 132 pianos.
In his cheery Caribbean blue workshop in the Imig Music Building on the CU-麻豆影院 campus, Cloutier, 61, reminisced about his multifaceted and extraordinary career as he anticipates retirement in April 2013.
鈥淚t sort of got out of hand,鈥� he joked about how a summer job tuning pianos became a successful career. 鈥淭uning pianos is an art,鈥� he said. 鈥淓very piano has an individual personality. That鈥檚 the beauty that attracted me to it鈥攄iscovering the best of an individual instrument.鈥�
While an undergraduate majoring in piano performance at West Virginia University, Cloutier had the opportunity to learn how to tune pianos from one of his music professors. As he grasped the techniques of working with the pianos, Cloutier found the work absorbing and, moreover, he was really good at it, earning glowing compliments from the faculty.
He decided to advance his skills by taking specialized training at Steinway & Sons in New York and London. 听It wasn鈥檛 long before his reputation as a concert piano preparer earned him a star-studded following that took him from one end of the country to the other tuning pianos for a wide spectrum of singers and musicians. Cloutier even earned his pilot鈥檚 license and flew his own plane to jobs, sometimes as far away as Alaska where he tuned pianos in remote logging camps and fishing villages.
Keeping Hollywood in tune
For 14 years Cloutier lived in a beach house outside Los Angeles and tuned pianos for Sony MGM and Paramount Pictures. He also was in demand by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Hollywood Bowl. As a result, his skilled touch can still be heard on numerous movie soundtracks that utilized pianos. The musical score of Apollo 13, for example, required three Steinway concert grand pianos. All three had to be tuned daily鈥攏o small feat considering that it takes an hour and a half to tune just one concert grand piano.
Cloutier has also held senior technician appointments at The Manhattan School of Music, Thornton School of Music, University of Southern California, University of Oregon, and West Virginia University.
鈥淚 had the best gigs, worked with the best people doing the best work,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was having so much fun I didn鈥檛 realize how much time I was spending sitting in traffic. And there鈥檚 a lot of traffic in Los Angeles. One day I realized it wasn鈥檛 as much fun anymore and it was time for a change.鈥�
A number of years prior to this epiphany, Cloutier had worked for a season at the Aspen Music Festival. He liked Colorado, so when he was recruited by the College of Music 12 years ago, he jumped at the opportunity to work at CU-麻豆影院.
David Korevaar, professor of piano and chair of the keyboard area at the College of Music, served on the committee that hired Cloutier. 鈥淏ob came extremely highly recommended and it was an extraordinary stroke of luck that we could attract him here,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 recently did a recording session in our newly renovated hall and Bob made our piano sound better than it鈥檚 ever sounded. It鈥檚 quite remarkable what he can do.鈥�
Two thirds of the College of Music鈥檚 stable of pianos are Steinway grands, considered the premier piano for concert performances. The oldest piano in the building is an 1879 Steinway that is still in use.
A busy tuning schedule
More than 300 performances and recitals are held at the College of Music each year. The performance pianos have priority over the studio and practice pianos due to the importance of concerts and the rigorous demands of the musicians. Those pianos are tuned prior to every recital or concert.
鈥淭he performance pianos have to be 100 percent all the time,鈥� said Cloutier, 鈥渂ecause students and faculty will sometimes work an entire year to prepare for one program. It鈥檚 their moment so for those 90 minutes they are performing, that piano has to be perfect.鈥�
