Paul McNulty (piano maker)

Paul McNulty
Fortepiano by Paul McNulty, based on a model by Walter & Sohn, 1805
Born1953 (age 70–71)
Houston, Texas
CitizenshipUnited States, Czech Republic
EducationNorth Bennet Street School
OccupationPiano maker
SpouseViviana Sofronitsky
Websitewww.fortepiano.eu

Paul McNulty (born 1953) is a builder of historical pianos, described by the New Grove as "famous for the high standard of [his] instruments." Within the community of builders, McNulty is noted for his efforts to extend the production of historically informed instruments later into history: while he has built many fortepianos in 18th-century style, he has also progressively sought to span the gap between the fortepiano (the cradle of modern historical-piano construction) and the fully modern piano that emerged around the last third of the 19th century. The expanding diversity of McNulty's productions has thus helped "provide an opportunity to extend keyboard performing practice to include the piano repertory of the 19th century" (New Grove).[1]

  1. ^ Quotations from the New Grove are taken from the online edition (http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com), article "Pianoforte", section 5, "The Viennese piano from 1800". This section was written by Philip R. Belt, Maribel Meisel, and Gert Hecher.