Jeremy Duckles:  

Where do I begin? I moved to New York in Dec. of 1974 at the invitation of jazz guitarist John McLaughlin to play viola with the string quartet that was then part of the Mahavishnu Orchestra. When the Orchestra disbanded in the spring of 1975 I went to Mannes College of Music in Manhattan. I didn't really want to be a classical orchestral player, as the the school was grooming its students to become so, with encouragement from a friend who was the piano technician for the Manhattan School of Music, I learned how to tune pianos. After a long professional career as a piano tuner I turned to piano restoration. I formed my own business in 2003, Supreme Pianos of NY, and currently have a shop in Fishkill, NY. I've met some fascinating artist and musicians over the years, many who have become great friends. Somehow I've been discovered by a few celebrities, having tuned and restored pianos for Roberta Flack, Natalie Merchant, Annie Lebowitz, Steve Martin, David Strathairn, Rosie Perez, Philip Glass and many more. This has been my vocation. My life has involved much more. After wild times in Berkeley in the late 60's and early 70's, I turned my life around rather dramatically. I got into meditation (as a student of Sri Chinmoy), gave up drugs and alcohol, became a vegetarian and got into running and athletics. I would run over 45 marathons, including 10 NY City marathons, in my ...Expand for more