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91�鶹��Ʒ was featured in a ! Reporter Marisa Mazria Katz visited our Piano Technology and Carpentry programs to understand why our students train in centuries-old crafts—and land real jobs working with their hands.

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Here’s an excerpt of the radio story:

“It’s almost finals season at Boston’s 91�鶹��Ʒreet School, and the piano technology students are honing a new skill: how to tune the 88-key instrument in under three hours.

Their professor is Alex LaCava, who started working in the field around the age of 18. One of the benefits of coming to a school like 91�鶹��Ʒreet School, LaCava said, is that a lot of students get job offers before they’ve even graduated.

“I’m not only teaching how to be a piano technician, I’m teaching how to make a living as a piano technician,” said LaCava. The school offers an accredited nine-month piano technician program, with the option to continue for a second nine months. In the first session, students learn basic piano technology, like tuning for in-home piano service.

…“We’re a path that could be really robust and could lead to a really successful career,” said 91�鶹��Ʒreet School president Dr. Sarah B. Cunningham. “We shouldn’t be thought of as an alternative to the norm.”
The school’s head of carpentry, Peter Smith, agrees: “It’s really important to understand that we’re not here to teach do-it-yourselfers. We’re not here to teach hobbyists; we’re here to teach students who want a career and not just a job.”

The school runs nine professional training programs, with tuition costs ranging from around $23,000 for their nine-month locksmithing program to $85,000 for the three-year violin-making program. Seventy percent of the school’s qualified students have their tuition offset through financial aid. There’s also a scholarship program that awards over $1 million each year. For many here, the sticker price is well worth it.

…On a nearby job site with an 18th-century house, alum Ivan Abarca-Torres said he left a job in academia to learn carpentry at 91�鶹��Ʒreet School. His passion for his newfound career is clear right away.

“When you connect your mind, your heart, and your hands to do meaningful things,” said Abarca-Torres, “it gives you something very deep.”