Walter Haass

About Walter

Walter Haass is an expert in piano making and restoration and a master Concert Tuner.
He brings world class training and experience to all his clients in Perth, Australia, and Southeast Asia.

Training & Experience

Walter Haass studied piano making at the renowned Ludwigsburg Vocational School for Piano and Harpsicord Making in Germany, whilst doing his apprenticeship at Matthaes Piano Factory in Stuttgart. His apprenticeship lasted three and half years, full time.

He then continued his training at the Fromenteil Atelier in Paris. Later Walter worked as a freelance piano tuner and concert technician in Berlin until moving to Perth, Western Australia in 1982.

Walter Haass studied piano making at the renowned Ludwigsburg Vocational School for Piano and Harpsicord Making, in Germany whilst doing his apprenticeship at Matthaes Piano Factory in Stuttgart. His apprenticeship lasted three and half years, full time.

He then continued his training at the Fromenteil Atelier in Paris. Later Walter worked as a freelance piano tuner and concert technician in Berlin until moving to Perth, Western Australia in 1982.

International Collaboration

Over the years, Walter has attended professionally to the varied tastes and requirements of the world’s finest pianists.

A long list of artists contains such well-known pianists as:

Jan Monro
Roger Muraro
Jan Nahamatsu
Davis Nettle
Noroko Ogawa
Garrick Ohlsson
Celcile Ousset
Vladimir Ovchimikov
Kun-Woo Paik
Jon Kimura Parker
Arthur Pizzaro
Jean Bernard Pommier
Pascal Roge
Michael Roll
Mikhail Rudy
Gyorgy SandorVittorio Sangiorgio
Konstantin Scherbakov
Howard Shelley
Kathryn Stott
Yevgeny Sudbin
Melwyn Tan
Jean-Yves Thibaudet
Francois-Joel Thiollier
Fau Ts’ong
Seow Yit Kin
Lars Vogt
Arcadi Volados
Roger Woodward
Igor Zhuhov

Singapore International Piano Festival

Walter has worked for the Singapore International Piano Festival since shortly after its inception in 1994.

Mr Goh wrote in his Message from the Director that “Walter Haass has once again agreed to come from Perth to take care of the pianos during the Festival. His tender loving care in preparing the instruments has been conspicuously praised by pianists in each Festival, and I hope he will continue to help us in the years ahead.”

Indeed, Walter returned to this prestigious international event in June 2019 which marked his 25th consecutive year in Singapore.

Primary Servicing Components

Three components that need to be adjusted periodically are tuning, voicing and regulation.

Tuning

Which brings the piano back to pitch

Piano tuning is the adjustment of the piano’s strings to the correct pitch tension so that the instrument is perfectly in tune with itself, normally (although not necessarily) at concert pitch.

We recommend that your piano is tuned once or twice a year to keep it sounding good and working properly each time you sit down to play, this is especially important in the first year of your piano’s life.

Voicing

Which affects the piano’s tone 

Voicing is the adjustment of the piano’s tone or sound and is done by softening or hardening the hammers and adjusting various parts of the piano’s keyboard mechanism.

Regulating

The adjustment of the action mechanism which affects the touch of the piano.

Additional Servicing Areas

Regular maintenance also can prevent expensive repair in the future. We are happy to recommend a service plan that will take the absolute best care of your instrument.

Inspection and Evaluation

When looking to buy or sell a second-hand piano, it is important to know the actual value of the instrument. Having a piano throughout inspected, with a detail report for future reference will save time and money in the negotiation of the price for the instrument.

Repairs and Restoration

Walter Haass is the Steinway & Sons specialist repair in Perth. He also carries out full restoration on all brand pianos, upright and grand pianos, using the highest quality parts and craftmanship.