DMC — Profile of Member

Stan has been a member of the Dull Men’s Club for 14 years. He tells us he felt at home in the DMC the moment he heard about the club and realized that it was the club for him. Stan lives in New York City. He works with piano players. He is a professional page turner.     Stan has been a page turner for over 30 years. As a young boy, he realized that he wanted to perform on stage, to be up there in front of audiences. He began taking piano lessons at the age of five. He soon found that, although he liked the music coming from the piano and the reactions of his parent and aunts and uncles when they heard him playing, what he enjoyed most was turning the pages of music.     He would play his music faster and faster so he turn more pages. Eventually, his piano teachers warned him that he should slow down, play the pieces the way they were composed to be played. The teachers encouraged him to get a metronome and use it religiously. Stan complied with the teachers’ wishes. But he continued to harbor a secret desire to turn pages. On his time off, he’d often spend hours practicing turning pages.    He felt he was a natural to work as a page turner. He could read and understand music scores. He could sit still. He was left handed.    Because of his ability to sit still ― to be calm, quiet, and content on the job ― piano players like to hire him. He’s the kind of guy that they like to have sitting next to them; what they don’t like is a fidgety person as their page turner.    We asked Stan whether he feels there are any negatives to his work, anything he’d like to see changed. His response was that (sounding like Don Rickles), "I get no respect." He would like to see piano players sharing some of the recognition ― sharing some of the applause. As it is now, the page turners are treated as non-persons.    Stan also said he’d like to see a category in the Grammy Awards and other awards for page turners.    Does he regret the years of piano lessons yet does not play the piano for the public’s enjoyment? No, he says. He thinks the lessons helped him learn how to read music so he would know when pages needed to be turned. And to appreciate what piano players are like. And the metronomes . . . Stan still has them . . . and has added more . . . it has become a hobby . . . he now feels he has the world’s largest collection of metronomes.

    We are proud to have Stan as a member. As a page turner, as well as a collector of metronomes, his contribution to music is immense.