![]() “Not just anyone can work with that piano. “If you use one of TCU’s instruments, I come with the piano,” he says. The 60-year-old says he feels a certain sense of ownership over the School of Music’s $4.5 million worth of piano inventory. But it’s what you have to do if you want to get it done. … My contract is Monday through Friday, 8 to 5,” Williams says. “My schedule is the epitome of flex hours. After that, it’s the Mimir Chamber Music Festival in July. And on days when a faculty recital, guest artist performance or other high-profile event is scheduled, Williams, who until recently also served as the piano technician for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, performs last-minute, pre-performance checkups, usually on hour 13 or 14 of his workday.Įven after the academic calendar ends, Williams faces a busy summer, which brings the month-long PianoTexas International Academy & Festival in June. On a typical day, Williams tunes instruments early in the morning before first classes begin at 8. It’s a pressure-packed job that requires odd hours. Then there’s the campus’s four concert grands - two New York and two Hamburg Steinways - in Pepsico Recital Hall and Ed Landreth Hall, all of which must produce flawless sound. There’s faculty instruments that must meet professors’ exacting standards. There’s practice pianos suffering the strain of almost-constant student use. Williams keeps track of the school’s fleet of 115 Steinways. “I find myself critiquing the piano as much as the performer,” says Williams, who has been the TCU School of Music’s chief piano technician for nearly 15 years. His ears tell him about the quality of the instrument - the keys, the hammers, the strings. ![]() When James Williams listens to a piano, he doesn’t hear the prowess of the performer pounding the keys. ![]()
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