Academy
for Young
Concert
Technicians
Elite training for the next generation of piano technicians
The Academy for Young Concert Technicians is an intense training programme for piano technicians who have a wish to work as concert technicians on an international level.
The Academy is open for permanent residents of the EU, Great Britain, Norway and Switzerland, aged 18-35. Each class will have four students, that will receive 156 days of lessons and training during a period of 17 months.
The purpose of the academy is to prepare young, promising piano technicians to working as concert technicians on an international level. Furthermore, the purpose of the academy is to address the lack of highly skilled piano technicians in Denmark – therefore, one place in each class is reserved for an applicant, who lives in Denmark.
The academy is aimed at highly gifted piano technicians who already show exceptional promise in their technical abilities and who have a strong desire to one day become a top-class concert technician.
The lessons are scheduled in 26 weeks, typically with 6-7 study-days per week, starting Monday morning, and ending Saturday afternoon. Occasionally, classes will be scheduled differently in order to give students the possibility to follow the collaboration with world class pianists working with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra.
The first class will start in September 2026 and end in December 2027. The second class will start in January 2028 and end in June 2029.
The Academy for Young Concert Technicians is generously supported by
Who can apply?
The Academy for Young Concert Technicians is open to young piano technicians aged 18-35, who are permanent residents in the European Union, Great Britain, Norway and Switzerland.
The Academy is designed for young technicians with exceptional talent. Furthermore, applicants should be able to work independently and with a high level of concentrations for many hours each day.
Applicants should ideally have:
- completed an education as piano technician (for example from Oscar-Walcker-Schule)
- considerable working experience
- a strong desire to one day become a top-class international concert technician
As the Academy also has the purpose of contributing to the level of expertise in Denmark, one seat in each class is reserved for residents of Denmark.
The entrance examinations to the class 2026-2027 will take place in Copenhagen in June 2026.
The working language of all lessons is English.
Lessons
As a student at The Academy for Young Concert Technicians, you will work with a wide variety of topics. Your primary teacher is concert technician Roland Zinniker, who is based in Vienna, and is closely affiliated with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. Roland Zinniker is preparing the orchestra´s grand pianos for all concerts with international soloists (for detailed CV about Roland Zinniker, see below).
Students will furthermore participate in masterclasses taught by other top-level concert technicians.
During the 17 months in the academy, the following topics will be taught. The list is not exhaustive.
Regulation
- Key dip
- Let-off
- Drop
- Repetition speed
- Jack position
- Spring tension
- Hammer shank angle
- Free movement of center pins
- Reduce friction at various points on the Grand Action
Hammerheads
- Working the felt: needling in various zones of the hammerhead
- Sanding, filing, and shaping hammers (sandpaper)
- Adjusting the crown with coarser and finer files
- Transfer of energy to the strings
- Listening for the ideal striking point of the hammerhead
- Possibly re-gluing hammers
Tuning
- Stabilizing the tuning
- Using the tuning hammer correctly
- Building string tension across all sections and ensuring even loading of the soundboard
- Precise listening – hearing overtones while tuning
- Creating purity and tonal richness through common partials
- Influencing tone color and clarity
Damping
- Ending the tone
- Controlling legato
- Preventing after-ring
- Clean cutting and positioning of dampers
- Lift-off height
String and Bridge
- String tension and bridge pressure
- Polishing bridge pins
- Angle of bridge surface
- Firmness of bridge pins in bridge
- Understanding the soundboard in terms of carrying capacity and tonal strength
Touchweight
- Downweight / upweight
- Balancing with weights
- Whippen alignment
- Regulation measurements
- Hammer weight
- Advantages and disadvantages of various methods
Support
- Repertoire-based work
- Observing pianists
- Adjusting shift (una corda) position
- Tone balance
- Translating musical intentions
- Performance psychology and communication
Hall Work
- Overtones
- Projection
- Perception of loudness
- Tone color
- Warmth
- Brilliance
- Balance
Problem Analysis
- Here we work with the identification of causes and the remedy of:
- Uneven tones
- Shrill in the treble register
- Weak bass
- Too soft sound
- Heavy touch
- Uncontrollable dynamics
- Extraneous noises, pedal noises, action noises
Collaboration
- Meeting with pianists during selection of grand piano or rehearsal
- Listening to rehearsals from different positions in the hall and evaluating the instrument
- Discussions after rehearsals about the pianist´s, the musicians´ and our experience of the instrument.
- Make small adjustments to the instrument in collaboration with the pianist
Please note: All lessons take place at DR Byen, Copenhagen, and the working language is English.
Teacher
Roland Zinniker
Curriculum Vitae
1990–1994: Apprenticeship as an instrument maker at Musikhaus Krompholz, Bern
1994–1996: Piano technician at Musikhaus Krompholz, Bern
1996–2000: Piano technician at Musikhaus Jecklin, Zurich; internship at Bösendorfer in Vienna and training with Georges Amman, Steinway’s chief concert technician for Europe and Asia
2000–2004: Employed at Steinwayhaus Vienna, collaboration with Stefan Knüpfer
Roland’s task was to prepare, both tonally and technically, countless pianos and grand pianos that were to be put up for sale. Through this sustained work, Roland gained great confidence in his craft and was increasingly hired as a concert technician for Vienna’s concert life. Here, he has collaborated with major soloists such as: Rudolf Buchbinder, Lang Lang, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Hélène Grimaud, Mitsuko Uchida, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Leif Ove Andsnes, Grigory Sokolov, Marc-André Hamelin, Oleg Maisenberg, Murray Perahia, among others.
Since 2004: Work for Bösendorfer, Blüthner, Bechstein (including in quality control), Steinway in Hamburg and Munich, and as a freelance concert technician for concert halls around the world.
Schedule
The schedule for season 2026-2027 can be seen below. The schedule shows the date and time when students of the Academy are required to be present in DR Byen, Emil Holms Kanal 20, Copenhagen, Denmark. The schedule for the second half of 2027 is not yet fixed.
2026
September
October
November
December
2027
January
February
March
April
May
June
Practical Information
The Academy for Young Concert Technicians is generously supported by the A.P. Møller Foundation. Therefore, participants do not need to pay for the course. Having passed the entrance examinations, and after being accepted to The Academy for Young Concert Technicians, your expenses for transportation from your home country to Denmark and for accommodation will also be refunded up to a limit (see detailed info below).
On each day of studies, two free meals in the canteen of DR will be provided. Besides this, you will still need to pay for your own daily expenses, e.g. local transport (Metro tickets) and the other food that you eat (coffee/tea and water is available for free in DR).
As a student in The Academy for Young Concert Technicians, your expenses for transportation (economy class) to Copenhagen and back will be refunded up to 300 € per travel (100 € for residents of Denmark). We expect our students to search for cheap travel options and book them in consultation with us, thus enabling us to spend more money on your lessons, and less on transportation.
You can choose your accommodation freely and will be refunded costs of up to 750 DKK per relevant night upon receipt. We recommend to book hotels with a free cancellation-option, as we cannot refund costs for a booking that you do not use.
All lessons take place in DR Koncerthuset, DR Byen, Emil Holms Kanal 20, DK-0999 København C.
DR Koncerthuset is an integral part of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) and is situated at the Metro-station "DR Byen" (M1-line).
A map showing trains and Metro in Greater Copenhagen can be seen here. Updated travel information can be accessed via Journeyplanner. On this page, you can enter the exact addresses for start and destination, and the site will show you options for your travel.
When you have passed the entrance examinations and are offered a place in the academy, you will receive a contract that formally describes your participation. DR's Policy for Prevention and Management of Abusive Behavior will be an integral part of the contract between students and DR.
Please note two important clauses of that contract:
DR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation) has the right to record and publish activities of The Academy for Young Concert Technicians. For example, your work with restoring an old Steinway Centennial, Rosewood from 1875, will be recorded in audio and video.
The Academy for Young Concert Technicians has the right to terminate a student´s participation in the course at any time, for example, if a student is repeatedly unprepared, doesn´t show a satisfactory commitment or development, behaves inappropriately or for any other reason. The decision to terminate a student´s participation rests entirely with DR and may not be appealed.
Academy for Young Concert Technicians
DR Byen
Emil Holms Kanal 20 5-3
0999 København C
Denmark
Dominik Falenski
Executive producer
dofa@dr.dk
Application
Key Dates 2026
April 12 – Application deadline online
April 23 – 12:00 (Copenhagen time) – Preliminary round, online
June 20-21 – Examination in Copenhagen
June 22 – Results are being announced
September – Lessons in the academy begin
Online application
Deadline: 12th April 2026
The online application is open. Applications are made through an online form, and should include the following content:
- Name, address, age
- Biography with information about education and professional experience
- Certifications
- Description of the applicant´s experience in working with pianos
All applications will be reviewed by the pre-jury and treated as confidential. The Academy for Young Concert Technicians reserves the right to request additional information from or about an applicant.
Preliminary round
April 23rd, 2026 at 12:00
The preliminary round will take place online on April 23rd, 2026 at 12:00 (Copenhagen time).
On this time and date, applicants will be given access to an online questionnaire, that must be answered within 30 minutes. This questionnaire contains technical and content-related questions in a multiple-choice format.
The result of the preliminary round will be announced on April 30th, 2026 via e-mail. 10-12 applicants will be invited to the entrance examinations in Copenhagen.
Entrance examination
June 21st and 22nd, 2026
The entrance examination in Copenhagen will take place on June 20th and 21st, 2026 in DR Koncerthuset, Emil Holms Kanal 20, 2300 København S. Upon arrival, all applicants will be asked to proof their age by showing a valid passport or photo ID-card.
The 10-12 applicants, that are invited to the entrance examinations will participate in the following rounds:
-
Multiple choice, written test This test will be quite similar to the online test in the preliminary round.
-
Tuning and Regulation of an grand piano Tuning: Candidates will each be assigned to an individual room with a grand piano and will be given 2 hours' time to tune their instrument. During this time, the jury might visit to observe the candidates´ way of working. After the two hours, the jury will evaluate the tuning but does not give any feedback to the candidate. Regulation: All candidates will be asked to regulate one note according to the jury´s instructions. The jury will ensure, that everyone receives a similar task.
-
Oral test: Theory Here, the jury will ask each candidate a series of technical and theoretical questions to be answered on the spot.
-
Personal interview Here, the jury will have a conversation with each candidate about topics of motivation, experience or similar.
The result of the entrance examination will be announced on June 22nd, 2026 and all candidates will be notified by e-mail. 4 candidates will be invited to participate in The Academy for Young Concert Technicians 2026-2027. Furthermore, two candidates will be invited to be stand-in in case one of the students drops out during the first 3 months of study.
Expenses for travel and hotel accommodation for the entrance examination in Copenhagen will not be refunded.
Jury
The jury will consist of:
International concert technician
International concert technician
Concert technician, Mattsson & McGehee, Denmark
Executive producer, DR
Recording/
All application rounds may be recorded and/or photographed for use during the application process e.g. in order to review a performance in the subsequent jury-discussion. No recording will be published, but photos might be published on social media to inform about the ongoing application rounds.
Apply Now
The Academy is open for permanent residents of the EU, Great Britain, Norway and Switzerland, aged 18-35.
Applicants should ideally have:
- Completed an education as piano technician (for example from Oscar-Walcker-Schule)
- Considerable working experience
- A strong desire to one day become a top-class international concert technician
By clicking the button below, you will be forwarded to the application system of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, which is GDPR-compliant.
Please use this secure system to send us your personal information and upload:
- CV with information about your working experience
- Certifications, if you have any
We encourage all qualified candidates, regardless of gender, religion, disability and ethnic background, to apply.
