Paul McNulty (piano maker)
Encyclopedia
Classical guitar
The classical guitar is a 6-stringed plucked string instrument from the family of instruments called chordophones...
), then became interested in historical instruments, studying lute performance, etc. In 1978 he entered “The New England School of Stringed Keyboard Instrument Technology” where he studied under Bill Garlick. At his final examination Paul gained the highest possible qualification: “tuning examiner“
He attended a seminar at the Steinway
Steinway & Sons
Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway , is an American and German manufacturer of handmade pianos, founded 1853 in Manhattan in New York City by German immigrant Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg...
factory in New York and was recruited to work at this famous factory as restorer and technician. Paul chose instead to embark upon a career as a fortepiano builder, and served his apprenticeship for two years under Robert Smith, Somerville, MA.
Paul‘s first fortepiano was purchased by Norwegian Academy of Music
Norwegian Academy of Music
The Norwegian Academy of Music is a music conservatory located in Oslo, Norway, in the neighbourhood of Majorstuen, Frogner. It is the largest music academy in Norway and offers the country's highest level of music education. As a university college, it offers both undergraduate and postgraduate...
in Oslo, where it still works flawlessly after twenty five years. Enchanted by the sound of this instrument, the Austrian pianist Paul Badura-Skoda
Paul Badura-Skoda
Paul Badura-Skoda is an Austrian pianist.He won first prize in the Austrian Music Competition in 1947. In 1949, he performed with distinguished conductors like Wilhelm Furtwängler and Herbert von Karajan...
placed an order, as did Trevor Pinnock
Trevor Pinnock
Trevor David Pinnock CBE is an English conductor, harpsichordist, and occasional organist and pianist.He is best known for his association with the period-performance orchestra The English Concert which he helped found and directed from the keyboard for over 30 years in baroque and early classical...
, ordering a fortepiano for his Carnegie Hall concert.
In 1986 John Gibbons invited Paul McNulty to accompany his European tour with Frans Bruggen’s “Orchstra of the 18th century”. Gibbons performed Mozart’s
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
concertos K.491 in c-moll and K.466 in d-moll, and the highlight of the tour was McNulty’s fortepiano. At the same year Paul McNulty moved to Amsterdam. In 1989 at Bruge’s EXPO in Belgium,
Paul’s fortepianos made a great sensation with many piano orders following.
The long search for the best material brought Paul McNulty to the Czech Republic. It was written in 1823 that Conrad Graf
Conrad Graf
Conrad Graf was an Austrian-German piano maker. His pianos were used by Beethoven, Chopin, and Clara Schumann, among others.-Life and career:...
preferred to get his soundboards from the Schwarzenberg Forest (now Sumova) in Southern Bohemia, and indeed there is still the narrow Schwarzenberg Canal, ca.1790, leading from the headwaters of the Moldau to the Danube and thence Vienna. Since 1995 Paul has been living and working in Divišov, a small Czech town. In 2004 Paul McNulty had married Russian-Canadian fortepianist Viviana Sofronitsky
Viviana Sofronitsky
-Biography:Viviana Sofronitsky - Russian-Canadian pianist, was born in Moscow, to the family of the distinguished Russian pianist Vladimir Sofronitsky...
.
Paul McNulty’s fortepianos:
- Fortepiano after J.A.SteinJohann Andreas SteinJohann Andreas Stein, was an outstanding German maker of keyboard instruments, a central figure in the history of the piano...
ca 1788 - Fortepiano after WalterAnton WalterAnton Walter was a builder of pianos. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians describes him as "the most famous Viennese piano maker of his time".-Life:...
1782 - Fortepiano after C.GrafConrad GrafConrad Graf was an Austrian-German piano maker. His pianos were used by Beethoven, Chopin, and Clara Schumann, among others.-Life and career:...
1819, op 318 - Fortepiano after J.PleyelIgnaz PleyelIgnace Joseph Pleyel , ; was an Austrian-born French composer and piano builder of the Classical period.-Early years:...
1830. - Fortepiano after Boisselot 1846, op.2800
In 2009, Paul produced the first modern copy of a French piano of this period, Chopin’s favorite.
Currently (2011), Paul has reproduced the personal piano of Ferenc Liszt, Boisselot #2800, 1846, This instrument was made in 1846 for the Liszt’s 1847 tour of Russia.
Since 1985 Paul has made more than 150 pianos, for, among others:
John Gibbons, for a great tour with The Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century (Amsterdam),
Mario Aschauer, Wien,
Malcolm Bilson
Malcolm Bilson
Malcolm Bilson is an American pianist specializing in performance on the fortepiano, which is the 18th century version of the piano. Bilson is the Frederick J...
,
Ronald Brautigam,
Prof. David Breitman, Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
,
Maggie Cole,
Penelope Crawford, Univ. of Michigan,
Sara Erro (Madrid),
Vladimir Feltsman
Vladimir Feltsman
Vladimir Feltsman is a Russian American classical pianist.Feltsman debuted with the Moscow Philharmonic at age 11. He studied at the Moscow Tchaikovsky, Moscow, and Leningrad Vladimir Feltsman is a Russian American classical pianist.Feltsman debuted with the Moscow Philharmonic at age 11. He...
,
Prof. Stanley Hoogland,
Robert Levin
Robert D. Levin
Robert D. Levin is a classical performer, musicologist, and composer, and is the Artistic Director of the Sarasota Music Festival.-Education:...
,
Sergiu Luca
Sergiu Luca
Sergiu Luca was a Romanian-born American violinist, renowned as an early music pioneer who first introduced playing J. S...
,
Helena Marinho (Portugal),
Trudelies Leonhardt,
Prof.Geoffrey Lancaster,
Kristian Bezuidenhout,
Jacques Ogg,
Prof. Zvi Meniker,
Mitsuko Uchida
Mitsuko Uchida
, born 20 December 1948, is a Japanese naturalized British classical pianist.-Career:Born in Atami, a seaside town close to Tokyo, Japan, Uchida moved to Vienna, Austria, with her diplomat parents when she was twelve years old, after her father was named the Japanese ambassador to Austria...
,
Amsterdam Conservatory,
Den Haag Conservatory
Royal Conservatory of The Hague
The Royal Conservatory of The Hague is a conservatorium of music, providing higher education in music and dance, it is located in The Hague, Netherlands.-The Conservatory:...
,
Glyndebourne Festival,UK,
Hannover Hochschule,
Alice and Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Nikolaus Harnoncourt is an Austrian conductor, particularly known for his historically informed performances of music from the Classical era and earlier. Starting out as a classical cellist, he founded his own period instrument ensemble in the 1950s, and became a pioneer of the Early Music movement...
,
Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
,
Linz A.Bruckner Privatuniversität,
„Music sources“ CA (USA),
Oberlin College (USA),
Royal College of Music in London
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...
,
Royal Academy of Music in London
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
,
Schola Cantorum Basiliensis
Schola Cantorum Basiliensis
Schola Cantorum Basiliensis is a music academy and research institution located in Basel, Switzerland, and focusing on early music and historically informed performance....
,
Sibelius Academy Helsinki
Sibelius Academy
The Sibelius Academy is a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It also has an adult education centre in Järvenpää and a training centre in Seinäjoki. The Academy is the only music university in Finland. It is among the biggest European music universities...
,
Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
(USA),
The Chinese University of Hong Kong,
Warsaw Mozart Festival.