Bussell Piano Service Inc.

07/31/2026

School of Music Pianist Max Artemenko first heard about Chautauqua from Alexander Kobrin, the Heintzelman Family Artistic Advisor for the Chautauqua Piano Program. SAM HUFFMAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER CODY ENGLANDERStaff

07/27/2026

Bravo!

07/25/2026

A case for Floating the pitch:

These two pianos have experienced two very different tuning schedules and weather environments over the last few weeks. The piano with the satin finish stage right was used two weeks ago for Tchaikovsky piano concerto 1 when the temperatures were running around 89 degrees. At that time I had the piano tuned to A4=440. Afterwards the piano was stored away with no time to retune. The shiny piano stage left was used for a full recital, also when it was 80+,degrees 10 days ago. Because of the constant programing in the Amphitheater neither piano could be immediately retuned. Then last Saturday the shiny piano was placed in the semi air conditioned backstage crossover just after a cold front came through. I found the piano very sharp from the colder air, particularly at the longest plain wire strings and up. But I only lowered the pitch to 440.75 (3 cents sharp).

Back to the satin finished
piano, on Wednesday the temperature in the Amphitheater was at best 65 degrees at the tuning time. The lowest plain wire string was 10 cents sharp and the A4 was 7 cents sharp (almost 442). I lowered everything to be in tune at 5 cents (A4=441.5). The percussionists reminded me that some of their instruments are tuned front factory to 440,and some of them are tuned to 442 so this is all with in a common range. That made me feel better but nervous.

Today both pianos were placed on stage for Carl Orf’s Carmina Burana . Of course there was no available time for tuning until after rehearsal and even then only two hours or less for the two pianos together.

Now here is the miracle! Both pianos were at 440.2 at 73 degrees. They tuned up nicely and were quite stable.

Some technicians worry about floating pitch but in some environments we must float the pitch as time and opportunities allow.

440-441.5 is very workable for outdoor use.

07/10/2026

07/02/2026

07/01/2026

Welcome to Chautauqua Institution! We are a community of artists, educators, thinkers, faith leaders and friends dedicated to exploring the best in humanity.

05/17/2026

Today is the Birth Anniversary of Eric Satie.

Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (17 May 1866 – 1 July 1925), better known as Erik Satie, was a French composer and pianist. The son of a French father and a British mother, he studied at the Paris Conservatoire but was undistinguished and did not obtain a diploma. In the 1880s he worked as a pianist in café-cabarets in Montmartre, Paris, and began composing works, mostly for solo piano, such as his Gymnopédies and Gnossiennes. He also wrote music for a Rosicrucian sect to which he was briefly attached.