Maurice Dinkins

On November 8, 2010 I interviewed Maurice Dinkins, a piano tuner who works for Cunningham Piano. What makes Maurice unique is his almost seeming supernatural power to tune pianos. Maurice has absolute perfect pitch. There is one more thing that makes him unique, he is blind. Right before I interviewed Maurice, co-owner Rich Galissini played a note on the piano and asked Maurice to identify the note. Within seconds, Maurice knew what note was played. 

I setup my mic and mixer in a back room where I could have a one on one discussion with Maurice. We talked about his normal day at Cunningham, his life, and other interesting topics.

Maurice started losing his sight in his teens from glaucoma. He went to Overbrook School for the Blind where he really learned to use his skill of perfect pitch and found his interest for piano tuning. Maurice also taught me that women are more inclined to have the ability of perfect pitch. Maurice has had his moment of fame. He was requested by Alicia Keys to tune her piano for a show. He was actually taken to her studio. He told me that knowing the piano he tuned was being played in front of thousands of fans, was great feeling.

After my interview with Maurice, I was taken on a tour of The Cunningham Restoration Facility. I met amazing individuals with amazing talents in rebuilding and restoring pianos. Below are some pictures and the radio podcast I took of Cunningham Piano and a picture of me and Maurice.  

WCSD 2010

Associated Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired hit the streets on October 15th to celebrate the spirit of White Cane Safety Day. Part of Blindness Awareness Month, WCSD recognizes the accomplishments and independence of blind individuals. ASB representatives set up shop at Liberty Place in downtown Philadelphia to answer questions, as well as hand out pamphlets, calendars, pens, wrist bands, etc… the objective to really generate awareness of the white cane.

We had a chance to stop by the event and interview ASB staff (namely Derby Ewing, Director of Human Services), along with other bystanders. The overall sentiment was that much of the public was not entirely aware of the significance of the white cane. Check out our podcast, along with some pictures from the event below..