Ted Rohde
Ted and his wife Debbie started Rohde Piano in September, 1976. He was in college to attain his degree in music and was fascinated while watching a piano technician work. He apprenticed and, upon graduation, moved to the Champaign, IL area where they started the business. It has been a slow and steady forty-year growth from zero customers to over 9,000 customers today.
Jeff Rohde
Jeff is Ted and Debbie's younger son and the next generation of Rohde Piano. He grew up working on piano actions and began working as a full-time technician in 2006. You will find no finer aural technician than Jeff! His ear is accurate throughout the entire scale of the piano and his repair skills are unsurpassed. When not working, Jeff and his wife Valeria are dedicated marathon runners.
Debbie Rohde
For over forty years, Debbie has been the heart and soul of the business. She is the one who has sat at a desk with her headset on and scheduled the techs. She is the one with whom you've talked when you call in for service and the sweet voice who assures that your concert will be covered. Due to extended illness, Debbie is no longer the only voice you will hear when you call now. She's still active and working part-time, but has had to back off a bit from the daily complexities of scheduling. Debbie and Ted married in 1971 and have had a life-long partnership in every aspect of their lives. She has been, is, and always will be the reason our business works!
Cindi Bryant-Reither
Cindi began apprenticeship in 2001 and fell in love with the work. She is intimately familiar with hundreds of piano models, is a superb diagnostician of action problems and, like Jeff, one of the finest aural technicians you'll ever meet! Cindi handles colleges, churches, professional musicians and residential work primarily in western Illinois. She loves her customers and that love is returned!
Cindy O'Keefe
Cindy was a long-time customer of Rohde Piano. She is an accompanist and talented pianist in her own rite. Cindy would watch Ted work each time he tuned until Ted finally asked if she would like to apprentice. Luckily for us, she agreed and has become a fine aural tuner and great technician! Cindy primarily travels the Springfield, Macomb and Carlinville areas of Illinois for Rohde Piano. Watch her work. You'll be impressed!
Steve White
Steve was the shop technician with Samuel Music for 25 years. When the owner of Samuel Music decided to retire and close the business, Steve agreed to come be a part of Rohde Piano and we were thrilled that he did. Steve has years of experience with piano actions of all makes and models. He is a genius when it comes to cabinet repair and figuring out difficult technical problems! Steve services primarily the Effingham area and south but is always more than willing to go where ever he's needed...which is everywhere!
Megan Smith
Megan is our newest technician and lives in East Central Illinois. She, her husband Chris, and their two children attend the same church as Ted and Debbie. Megan plays piano well, has a background working with tools, and loves the work! The Rohde's have known her since she was young and we're happy and proud to call her one of our own!
Leah Reither
Leah is the daughter of Cindi Reither (see above). She spent a lot of her youth helping her mom work on pianos. Leah is enrolled at Illinois College now and works as an assistant to our other techs on regulations, mold remediation's, and other jobs that require four or more hands...which are many! It's a wonderful way to earn great money while in college and we always need help! Always! We appreciate her giving up her free afternoons and days off to help ease our schedules on this end. It solves a lot of problems for everyone!
Jaci Davis
Jaci (pronounced "Jackie") and her husband Gary have been decades-long friends with Ted and Debbie. When Debbie decided to cut back, Jaci was the first choice to help with the situation. She's an amazing person! After only a year she mastered the scheduling system and software, how to work with customer databases, pairing the correct tech with the correct customer, and a myriad of other details that Debbie has had unwritten. She learned the terminology and lingo of the craft, although she will tell you that it's still confusing at times. She has taken an impossible task and risen to the occasion. We all love her and appreciate her being a perfectionist. In our craft, perfection is the standard we all try to achieve!!
Jeff Zindars
Jeff works with us as a behind the scenes person. He handles our databases and internet technology side of things. Although we do 19th century work, we still have to exist in a twenty-first century world. Jeff keeps us current. We keep detailed records on each and every piano we service down to the specific day, tech who serviced it, what was done, and what needs to be done next time. For keeping all of that information at our fingertips, we can thank Jeff.
