Following the devastating 2022 floods, Pianos for the People answered the call to bring music to the people of the Northern Rivers.
Pianos for the People recycles pre-loved pianos for public and private spaces.
Founder, Yantra de Vilder, says 14 pre-loved pianos were recently reclaimed and re-homed, ‘giving them new homes in the aftermath of the floods, bringing music, joy and community connection to the people of Mullumbimby, Main Arm, Lismore and Brunswick Heads’.
Yantra says last weekend their haulage truck drove from the NSW Central Coast to Mullumbimby, heralding the arrival of the first fleet of nine pianos to the Northern Rivers flood victims.
‘Flood-affected recipients of the first delivery of pianos include single mother of three, Baylee Woods, from Brunswick Heads’.
Yantra added that the musical Quirke family in Mullum received one, while filmmaker, Jane Hanckel, received one in Lismore.
‘The Mullumbimby Community Gardens has become one of our piano hosts, with a piano installed in the rotunda, set among the beautiful community gardens.
‘Early Saturday morning, we installed a piano at Kohinur Hall in Main Arm, and heard about the role of the community and the hall in supporting the flood victims.
‘If you want to get involved in Pianos for the People, we are looking for people to become part of the team and project’. Contact Yantra via www.yantra.com.au/pianos-for-the-people.
While not wanting to sound like a grumpy old fart, if some of these old pianos are destined for public spaces, I think careful consideration should be given as to where they are located. Quiet, green spaces (like the Lismore Quad, for example) where one can retreat from our already sound-saturated environment should be exempt from some wanna-be Elton John bashing out chopsticks on a beaten-up, honky-tonk keyboard.