The new nursery school has welcomed a diverse group of wide-eyed students eagerly exploring the vast space. The playground has been filled with barefoot children embracing creativity, while inside, Arnold Schwarzenegger even picked up a bodybuilding title. Despite controversies and renovations, the constant presence has been Terry Harper.
He has been tuning the school’s pianos for half a century, a legacy started by his father when the building opened in the 70s. As Terry retired, he reminisced about the time he first stepped into the nearly completed building, with nothing inside but the sails and a view of the harbor. His father, Ron, was renowned in the music scene and would bring Terry to see world-class acts as a young child. This sparked Terry’s love for music, though he didn’t become a musician himself; he briefly learned piano before switching to the drums and a school choir.
Ron got his chance to work at the school in 1973 when the Sydney Symphony was rehearsing and the piano had not been properly tuned that morning. Terry would join his father at the school a few years later after completing piano tuning courses. He worked his way up from rehearsal pianos in the backroom, eventually taking over when his dad retired a decade later. Terry can walk into a room and immediately know if the piano is out of tune. He does this all by ear, an ability he admits is not shared by everyone. He explains that each police key needs three separate steel wires to play the correct note and the goal is to keep these strings at the same frequency.
Tuning one piano can take up to 90 minutes and each of the 30 pianos in the building need to be tuned each time they’re used. Terry does this up to three times a day. While demanding, he enjoyed the perks like rubbing shoulders with some of the world’s most decorated musicians and easy access to tickets. Terry has also tuned pianos in other notable locations but none hold a special spot in his heart like the Sydney Opera House. It has been a life-changing experience for him. After five decades, Terry decided it was time to retire. He jokes that someone owes him money for doing the work of six people. Despite his feelings of accomplishment, he admits there is a tinge of sadness as he prepares to leave the camaraderie of the place.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg6zzxq3v2o
