Paul McNulty (piano maker)

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Paul McNulty (born 1953) is a maker of historical pianos, especially fortepianos. He is known for the high standard of his instruments and for helping bridge the gap between late‑18th‑century fortepianos and the fully modern piano that appeared in the 19th century, expanding the repertoire performers can play on period instruments.

McNulty was born in Houston, Texas. He studied classical guitar at Peabody Conservatory in 1976 and developed an interest in historical instruments, including lute performance. In 1978 he entered the New England School of Stringed Keyboard Instrument Technology, where he earned the top qualification as a tuning examiner. After a Steinway seminar, he chose fortepiano making and apprenticed for two years with Robert Smith in Somerville, Massachusetts.

In 1986 he accompanied John Gibbons on a European tour with Frans Brüggen’s Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, and he moved to Amsterdam. To access the best materials he later moved to the Czech Republic, where Viennese makers often sourced soundboards from Bohemia. Since 1995 he has lived and worked in Divišov, Czech Republic. In 2004 he married fortepianist Viviana Sofronitsky.

McNulty’s instruments have been widely used and collected: the Norwegian Academy of Music purchased one fortepiano, and renowned players such as Paul Badura‑Skoda and Trevor Pinnock ordered his instruments. In 2018 his Graf copy (1819), Pleyel (1830) and Buchholtz (1826) were used in the first International Chopin Competition on Period Instruments. In 2021 he led the restoration of Chopin’s own Pleyel grand piano (1848) for the Chopin Institute in Warsaw, an effort publicly showcased. His pianos were also featured in the II International Chopin Competition on Period Instruments, alongside other period instruments.

Today McNulty builds fortepianos suited to music from C. P. E. Bach, Mozart and Beethoven to Chopin, Liszt and Brahms. In 2009 he produced the first modern copy of a French piano, a Pleyel, Chopin’s favorite brand. In 2011 he reproduced Liszt’s Boisselot op. 2800 for the Klassik Stiftung Weimar. In 2015 he added a Streicher piano to his lineup, and in 2020 he built his first Silbermann fortepiano for Malcolm Bilson. Since 1985 he has made more than 300 pianos for customers around the world.

Website: fortepiano.eu
Spouse: Viviana Sofronitsky