Restoring the Steinway C with Robert Cloutier

The Steinway Parlor Grand piano at Eastport Arts Center (EAC) – a rare model C built in 1888 that hasn’t been produced domestically in the past century – has received a much-needed refurbishment by piano technician Robert Cloutier. Cloutier, who recently retired from a four-decade career that saw him traveling the world to work on concert-level instruments, donated his expertise to repair the piano provided new hammers for the instrument could be obtained.

“For EAC, this work transformed our piano from potentially being one of the finest pianos in the state to actually being so,” says Greg Biss, himself a pianist and the head of the arts center’s Concert Series. The Steinway C was originally inherited by Biss from his mother, noted cellist Raya Garbousova, but he exchanged it for the arts center’s piano upon discovering that the Steinway “had too much power for my home studio.”

Since then, the Steinway has served the arts center well, Biss says, though it was starting to struggle. “Over the last two decades we have kept that piano in good condition by performing regular maintenance but this last piece of replacing the 75-year-old hammers has eluded us for financial reasons. It is now thanks to Robert Cloutier’s generosity that we were able to have that crucial work done.”

Restoring the piano’s voice

Originally from a small factory town in Massachusetts, Cloutier started playing the piano when he was around 10 years old. When he went to college he heard and was captivated by a concert grand piano – and then, upon talking to a piano technician about how its sound could be enhanced, he found his calling. “That was it. I was like, ‘I’m done practicing piano. I’m going to work on them,’” he recalls.

From there, Cloutier went on to become an internationally in-demand concert instrument technician. He stayed out west amidst the glitz and glamor of renowned concert halls, rubbing elbows with the most famous performers and celebrities in the world. For four decades, he mastered the art of giving voice to Steinways, learning the ins and outs of one of the finest instruments in the world. “It was a fantastic career,” Cloutier says.

One day he decided, “I’ve had enough. I need to breathe.” Rural New England was calling, and Washington County in particular was his destination. First in Eastport and now in Calais, Cloutier is happy to be back in the slower pace of life.

Cloutier reached out to EAC after learning about the piano and hearing how the old hammers sounded in an online video. “There was terrible sound where you needed it to speak,” he says. “I couldn’t stand the thought of that piano being in disrepair. “I figured it was my civic duty – I have all this knowledge, so I should put it to use.”

This particular Steinway has an original casing made in the Steinway factory in New York, Cloutier explains. It is heavy and well made, giving the piano a “brilliance” that modern models lack. Replacing it today – if it were even possible – would require importing one from Germany with a ballpark cost of $200,000, he says. A new one would not have the same history, however, as Cloutier points out. “In 1888, there were no computers in the Steinway factory, everything was done by hand, and the original owner took delivery of this piano from a horse-drawn wagon.”

Rather than replacing it, Cloutier knew the piano’s 88 hammers could be replaced and carefully adjusted to restore the piano’s voice. He refers to it like replacing the bow of a violin rather than looking to replace the whole violin. “I’m not changing the instrument, I’m changing the action of the instrument.”

Cloutier contacted EAC and offered to donate the work if the center could come up with the funds to get the hammers. It was an offer that the center jumped on, and Cloutier set to work in early January.

After replacing each of the shanks on each hammer and determining the correct position of the hammer heads, Cloutier carefully adjusted every note. “There’s a dozen adjustments to each note that have to be done before the mechanism will actually function,” he says.

With the work now completed, Cloutier is pleased with the results. “The keys are quite facile and the piano has a pleasant singing tone that will only improve the more the piano is used,” he says. “In this regard, I hope there are some pianists in town who, with EAC's permission, will practice on the piano to shorten the break in period.”

Cloutier plans to return to the center within the next month to “do a complete re-voicing of the new hammers,” he says. “This piano will continue to provide good service for decades to come.”