VIDEO/PHOTOS: More than 80 historic pianos were destroyed when fire swept through a workshop in Vail on Thursday, Oct. 16. Jens Witter, owner of the building, said he was in his home, which is on the same property, when his power went off. That prompted him to check his solar panels located in the workshop. That’s when he saw the fire. “And I think, ‘Is that smoke?’ and I open the door and suddenly woosh,” he said. In his free time, Witter is a piano maker, restorer, and collector. He immigrated to the United States from Germany in the early 2000s and brought 54 pianos along with him. They made it across continents more than 20 years ago, but are now unrecognizable.
“If I could have gone in and could some way destroy that fire, and I would be dead, that would be fine,” said Witter. “In 50 years or in 20 years, I’m dead anyway, but these pianos would have been there for the next hundred, two hundred, three hundred years.” Witter grew up watching his father, who was a professional pianist, play. “I knew I could not reach his level, ever; he was too good,” Witter said. “I thought if I look at the keyboard, that interests me much more, actually, than playing an instrument – and that’s what I did.”
