David Graham

Piano Technician

David Graham came to the music world with a heritage: among other things, his paternal grandfather taught shaped note music in “singing schools” in the South. His earliest memories involve singing too loudly in church. After a family move to New Orleans, he began a life long love of jazz. Musical studies included guitar, piano, organ, voice and composition. It was at Moody Bible Institute, which brought him to Chicago, that he first started working on pianos.

Mentors in this area have included Robert Carbaugh, Virgil Smith and David Stanwood. He has been a member of the Piano Technicians Guild since 1982. Additional training has come from Fazioli Pianos, Shigeru Kawai and Yamaha. 

David was the piano technician at Lyric Opera of Chicago from 1982-2022, where he heard and worked with many of the great singers of this period. Additional institutions have included Northeastern Illinois University, Loyola University, North Central College, ChiArts and Chicago Academy for the Arts.

In 1983, David began working at Northern Illinois University as the piano technician for the NIU School of Music. Duties there include caring for the 125 pianos in the Music Building, supervising any needed repairs, and tuning for hundreds of concerts and recitals per year.

As he has stepped back from most of his responsibilities outside of NIU, he hopes to continue to maintain the pianos at NIU at a high level, as well as prepare the school for the next person to care for the many wonderful instruments at NIU. He also hopes to help students understand the piano better as a mechanical and acoustical device. He hopes to inspire some to follow in his footsteps and learn to work on these amazing instruments.