David Nichols was fortunate to grow up with his grandmother's piano in the living room. David began taking it apart at age 9 when he started studying the piano along side his mom and brother. During high school he excelled at accompanying the choir and began to take the instrument seriously.
David studied music theory and piano performance at Marylhurst University graduating with a BM in Piano Performance and a BM in Piano Pedagogy. While studying piano at Maryhurst he successfully performed in many master classes including one with renowned concert artists Lorin Hollander and Joseph Kalichstein. David performed piano concertos of Mozart and Lizst with the Marylhurst symphony and performed works of Beethoven, Chopin, Bach, Prokovief and others publicly in various settings including the Old Church, and on the touring 500,000 Steinway at the Portland Art Museum. During his studies he worked part time at Moe's Pianos and then in the basement Steinway rebuilding shop of Steve Ganz. David has also attended the C.F. Theodore Steinway Academy at the Steinway & Sons Factory in New York.
In 1990 he rented an ex-chicken barn.The small chicken sized doors were screwed closed; he refinished and repaired dozens of pianos in that old chicken-shop. His passion for the mechanics of the piano grew as he began to excel at repairing and restoring.
As his business grew, he began retailing restored pianos as well as new pianos including Pleyel and Bechstein. With a continuing focus on Piano Repair and Restoration, and a love for the unique and sometimes neglected uprights, David restored numerous AB Chase, Chickering, Weber, Ivers & Pond, and other uprights including a Pedal Piano. In his shop he now has a collection of early pianos including an 1810 Clementi, 1820, Collard & Collard, 1857 Erard and others.
Today David's restoration business, Evergreen Piano Company, has 8 full time employees. They accept repair and restoration projects of square pianos, player pianos, flat strung, over damper pianos (bird cage), as well as our more common and traditional instruments.
They also offer full service piano moving (licensed in Oregon).
In recent months, David and his talented Catnitian Zazu, have published a series of educational articles in the PTG Portland Chapter newsletter. Many of these articles can be seen on his webpage: evergreenpianos.com
David is very excited to be able to carry on the tradition and love for wonderful pianos at the new and impressive piano gallery; Pianos Now.
Ingrid Kraft has attended the C.F. Theodore Steinway Academy at the Steinway & Sons Factory in New York. She has also attended the Renner Academy in Phoenix and the Shigeru Kawai Technical Academy at the Colburn School in LA. Starting her career She graduated from the Randy Potter School of Piano Technology and has mentored with acclaimed piano rebuilder Joe Garrett RPT. Ingrid also holds a BA Music from Maryhurst University.
She is an active member of the Piano Technicians Guild and regularly attends Technical Conventions and Institutes to continually upgrade and advance her skills. She served on the Institute Team that helps plan National Conventions. She was PTG Orlando 2021 Institute Director.
Ingrid has a tremendous love for the piano since an early age. She remembers starting piano lessons and being fascinated when the piano
tuner used to come by to work on the family's old upright. She has been working for over 26 years as a full time piano technician tuning pianos all over the Portland metro area.
She is a recipient of the Emil B. Fries Award of Merit given out by the Portland Piano Technicians Guild in recognition of outstanding contributions to the Guild in the tradition of the Emil Fries Piano Hospital and Training Center. Ingrid maintains a teaching studio where she mentors talented pianists both young and old. She enjoys teaching piano performance, music theory, and piano tuning. Ingrid is passionate about her pianos, cars and cats. Her prized, original 1984 Camaro Berlinetta has won numerous awards and car shows both near and far. How could we forget her bangel cat Leo! What a treasure, this cat greets the pianos students as they arrive and when they complete their music lessons. She is very involved in selecting and approving the inventory at the Gallery. Ingrid is very excited about the pianos offered at Pianos Now.