Jess Semeraro PT ’26

“I really believe in the values behind the School”

Jess Semeraro, age 40s | Gloucester, Massachusetts
Piano Technology ’26

What did you do before coming to NBSS?

I have had so many different jobs. I worked in a fish-processing factory and taught English in South Korea. For the last nine years, I worked in semiconductor manufacturing as an electronics technician. It’s a thriving industry, and for the first time in my life, I started having financial stability. It allowed me time to think, ‘Maybe I have the breathing room to do something I really want?’

When/how did you discover for discipline/field?

In grade school, the minute they demonstrated all the instruments, I knew I wanted to play the trumpet. My mom would take us to local jazz concerts with a band called Aardvark Jazz Orchestra, headed by trumpeter Mark Harvey. I also taught myself piano and would practice in churches because we didn’t have one at home. My mom is a seamstress and when I was a teenager, she traded making slipcovers and window treatments for piano lessons with a teacher, which was great. Over the last six years, I got back into playing music and eventually joined a bunch of community bands.

Why did you choose to invest in training for a new career?

One of my high school classmates came to tune my piano and told me about his career. That stayed in the back of my mind. Then, I remembered from my time living in Seattle that people would play these tiny 50-key pianos in Pike Place Market. I went on Facebook Marketplace and found some of those little pianos. I fixed them up and tuned (as best I could), then sold them.

I started to wonder if I could find a career that blends music with my building and repair skills. I reached out to the Piano Technicians Guild, and they said the best way to launch your career is to go to school. And that’s how I found the Basic Piano Technology (PT) program at NBSS.

What are some ways you have felt supported during your time at School?

First of all, the financial aid from the School was make-or-break for me. That was substantial.

I’m also so grateful for my PT Instructors and their passion for seeing people through this process. For me, learning to tune was so hard—you have to learn how to hear, and it’s almost a biological change in your body. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life. Everybody in class felt it. Leading up to our second tuning exam, I had done well on my own, but when I got in the exam, I just crashed out. 

My Instructor Will Roper PT ’19 said to me, ‘I will sit right here and watch how you’re doing it, and we’re going to figure out how to go forward.’  For me, that was amazing. I had always had this urgency about learning my whole life. If something was very hard, I would pivot instead of going through it. It changed something inside me to have someone like Will spend that time with me to figure it out without rushing. I did well after that.

And I was very impressed by my classmates and the sacrifices we had all made to be there. We collaborated so well together. Every day, there was so much laughter.

How has your life changed because you chose to go to NBSS?

I’m so proud I gave myself this opportunity. Life is short, and the fact that I made this dream happen feels like an enormous act of self-love.

I didn’t go to my own college graduation—I had to work full-time through college and just get through it.  The NBSS graduation was a beautiful milestone for me. My family and a friend came, and I felt incredibly supported. My family was so proud. It was magical to be in the Old North Church, feeling connected to every one of my classmates and my Instructors.

What’s next for you?

I really believe in the values behind the School—this idea that work is meaningful and that you can make the world better with your work. I feel so honored to be a part of this tradition of giving back to the community in the form of work.

I found a business, Pianodrome, in Scotland that takes old pianos, fixes them up, and teaches people how to tune. It’s set in a beautiful Gothic cathedral venue. This summer, I’ll be working with Pianodrome, showing people how to fix pianos and keep them out of landfills. I’ll be learning a lot about community building while also building my skills. 

Giving back will definitely be a part of whatever I do going forward.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received while at NBSS?

Every day, the instructors would say, ‘It’s going to be OK, we promise you!’ That idea of trusting the process was really helpful.