BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The Chicago School for Piano Technology
Cate Rawson Brady, President
Cate Rawson Brady, President of the Board of Directors, is a piano lover and an experienced Chicago-area entrepreneur. She co-founded a company that went public and subsequently worked on a privately funded start-up that was purchased by WebMD for over 60 million dollars. Currently Cate is an investor and on the board of two technology start-ups. She has played the piano since she was tall enough to climb onto a piano bench. She lives in suburban Chicago with her two children and their beloved Airedale. She has a degree in Economics and a MS in Finance. She is also a graduate of Northwestern University’s Women Director Development Program.
The Rev. Dr. Neil Shadle, Vice-President
The Rev. Dr. Neil Shadle, Vice-President of the Board of Directors, is a retired professor from Meadville/Lombard Theological School, affiliated with the University of Chicago. A consultant for many years to churches and church-related agencies, Neil has focused his attention on the independent sector - the role of non-governmental, non-profit organizations in social amelioration and enhancement.
Thomas Zoells, Secretary
Thomas Zoells, Secretary of the Board of Directors, is the owner of PianoForte Chicago, Inc., a piano dealership representing Fazioli, Schimmel, Grotrian, and Wendl & Lung pianos as well as other well-known brands. He is also Executive Director of the PianoForte Foundation. and, as a member of the Chicago Chapter of the Piano Technicians Guild, deeply involved in the Gift of Pianos program. Mr. Zoells was born and raised in Switzerland and in Vienna, Austria. He has also worked for Ingpen & Williams in London and Agence Caecilia in Geneva, where he helped promote Jessye Norman, Alicia de Larrocha, and Alfred Brendel, among others.
J. Dennis Rich, PhD, Treasurer
J. Dennis Rich, PhD, Treasurer of the Board of Directors, has over forty years experience in the arts and arts management. Currently, he is a professor and Chairman Emeritus of the Arts, Entertainment and Media Management Department at Columbia College Chicago. During his tenure as department chair, enrollment in his department almost quadrupled to become the largest arts management training program in America. He also developed a number of new courses and areas of study. Dr. Rich has held a variety of high level management positions in theatre, orchestra, and ballet companies. He was the founder of the Center for Arts Policy at Columbia College and a one of the leaders in developing the Institute for Arts Entrepreneurship. He has served on a variety of arts boards and is a trustee of the Oak Park Area Arts Council. He has been a guest lecturer and consultant to arts management programs and institutions in Russia, Ukraine, India, Austria, Finland, Estonia, Germany, Serbia, Albania, and China. In addition, he has written extensively on cultural management topics and is contributing author to Marketing Culture and the Arts, which has been translated into nine languages with others in process. Dr. Rich is married to Elizabeth C. Rich and has two children, Aaron and Anna.
Robert Guenther RPT
Robert Guenther RPT started tuning pianos in 1976. Two years later, he began a course of study in piano tuning and technology with James McCormick in Lombard, IL, which he completed in 1979. That same year he established his own business, Guenther Piano Service, and since then has been tuning, repairing and servicing pianos full-time in the northern suburbs of Chicago. Robert joined the Piano Technicians Guild (PTG) in 1985 and quickly passed the Guild exams to become a Registered Piano Technician (RPT). He has served his local PTG chapter as Chairman of the Tuning Examinations Committee since 1987. He has also held the posts of Chapter Secretary, Vice President, President, and Newsletter Editor at various times. Robert is certified to administer tuning examinations for the PTG and has taught classes for PTG at the local, regional and national levels on subjects ranging from tuning to music theory to business. He has been asked to administer the Tuning Exam program at regional seminars, to tutor in aural tuning at the PTG Annual Institute, and has served as an Examiner at various PTG Institutes over the years. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Millikin University (Decatur, IL) with emphasis in Music Education, which included a course of study in the Physics of Sound and Acoustics. Before embarking on a career as a piano technician, Robert taught high school music (choral and orchestral) in the public schools. He sang professionally for nine seasons with His Majestie’s Clerkes, an a cappella chamber ensemble in Chicago, and served on their Board of Directors for 10 years. He has toured, with various choirs, through parts of France, England, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Germany, as well as many regions of the United States. Currently, Robert resides in Evanston, IL with his wife, Nancy, and their three children.
Paul Revenko-Jones RPT, Executive Director
Paul Revenko-Jones RPT, Executive Director of the School, grew up in the Washington, DC area, went to undergraduate school at Grinnell College in Iowa (BA, philosophy 1968), and did his graduate work at the University of Chicago (MA, English 1969). He was a dedicated brass player and played semi-professionally in the Midwest while gaining an interest in piano technology. After his return from the Peace Corps in 1971, he opened the first Music of the Spheres Pianoworks shop in Washington, DC. After joining the Piano Technicians Guild in 1987, he achieved RPT designation in 1989, and from 1987 served the PTG Chicago Chapter as editor of the newsletter, Secretary, Vice-president, and President. He tuned for the Lyric Opera briefly in the 1990's, and now, with his wife Oksana, operates a full piano restoration shop on Chicago's near west side as well as servicing a substantial private tuning clientele. Paul has been a regular teacher at regional and national PTG seminars and institutes since the mid-1990's. He has also been an editor of the Piano Technicians Journal from 2001-2005. In June, 2005, Paul received the Piano Technician's Guild Jack Greenfield Award "in recognition of outstanding research and writing of the best technical article for the Piano Technicians Journal." His interests include writing, the martial arts (ranked black belt and an instructor in aikido), and sailing their 28' sailboat Pianoforte on Lake Michigan.
Oksana Revenko-Jones, Administrator
Oksana Revenko-Jones, Administrator of the School, was born in France, came to the United States in 1956, and grew up in Chicago. She received a BA in French from Illinois College in 1971, and MA in Human Services from National College of Education in 1989. She worked for 12 years for a retail/catalog company in a variety of positions from buying to management, and then variously in the social services before developing an interest in piano work. She joined Music of the Spheres Pianoworks in 1991 and, having become a fine bench technician and tuner, she established her own business, Con Brio Pianos, in 1999 with her own tuning clientele in the Chicago area. Con Brio Pianos also offers administrative services to other businesses in the technical community, including CSPT and Music of the Spheres. Her interests include Jazzercise, music, and sailing.