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Avlona Yarbrough Taylor, daughters Karen (Patrice Walsh) and Kathryn (Paul Barchilon), as well as Evelyn Taylor鈥攕ister of the late Douglas Taylor.

It was a long time coming.听

Piano Technician Mark Mikkelsen鈥攚ho, for more than eight years, has supported the care and maintenance of the College of Music鈥檚 fleet of 160 pianos, two harpsichords and an organ鈥攚as thrilled when the opportunity arose to rebuild, refurbish and restore one of two fortepianos donated to our college by the late Douglas Taylor and his wife, Avlona, as an in-kind gift in 2019.听

The two fortepianos鈥攐ne is a replica after Conrad Graf 1828 by Robert Smith, ca. 1982; the other is a replica after J. A. Stein by Richard Kingston, ca. 1982鈥攁re a tremendous boon for our college. Five years following their donation, the refurbished Smith fortepiano was performed on for the first time on April 8 by Wes Leffingwell, a doctoral student of Professor of Harpsichord Robert Hill.

Since the instrument鈥檚 donation, Mikkelsen鈥攚hose overall responsibilities include tuning, voicing, regulation, rebuilding and repair鈥攔esearched the Smith fortepiano and embarked on a years-long restoration project in service to our students and faculty.听

鈥淭he more I learned about the fortepiano from various sources鈥攊ts history, how it was made, how it was shipped鈥攖he more I understood the instrument which inspired my problem solving,鈥� says Mikkelsen, who was trained in piano technology at the nationally renowned North Bennet Street School in Boston, Massachusetts.

Avlona Taylor enjoying Wes听Leffingwell鈥檚 performance on the refurbished fortepiano up close.

Adds Operations Manager and Head Piano Technician Ted Mulcahey, 鈥淲hen the Smith fortepiano arrived, it was not in playable condition. After about 120 hours of creative work鈥攊ncluding inventing or sourcing missing parts, strings, tools and more鈥擬ark turned it into a beautiful working instrument.鈥�

鈥淚t was like working on a ship in a bottle,鈥� continues Mikkelsen, who grew up playing piano. 鈥淚 really enjoyed the historical and problem-solving aspects of this project 鈥� and the positive reactions of the Taylor family, Wes and our faculty really made the effort worthwhile.鈥�

Mikkelsen鈥檚 connection to the Taylor family extends beyond this project and our College of Music. Over the years, he鈥檚 worked on Avlona Taylor鈥檚 harpsichord and he鈥檚 started tutoring her daughter, Karen, in the art of tuning.