Family firm turning unwanted pianos into art

Marc Hackworthy created this impressive piece using piano parts

A family-owned piano business is finding creative ways to make use of discarded instruments by turning them into art.

Played and Remade is the brainchild of Jon Kelly, owner of The Piano Shop Bath.

He says the Somerset business is asked to scrap between 150 and 300 unwanted pianos a year, each of them destined for rubbish dumps.

But the shop, which has previously worked with the band Coldplay on repurposing instruments, is offering the discarded pianos to artists for free so that they can turn them into works of art.

Jon Kelly says the scheme allows discarded pianos to be made into "something magical"

“Far too many redundant pianos are now being sent to landfill, dumped, abandoned or even burnt," said Mr Kelly.

Played and Remade was born out of a desire to be more environmentally friendly and to work with creative people "who share our vision", he added.

"Each of the pianos holds a story of the people who have lived with the instrument, often over very many years, and of the instrument’s makers," Mr Kelly said.

"Through Played and Remade we can keep the story going and forge a special bond between music and art."

Malmesbury artist Juliann Worrall Hood created this piece using parts from an unwanted piano

The team at the shop has worked with Coldplay more than once, collaborating with the band on a bespoke piano for their Everyday Life tour, and also making the piano lead singer Chris Martin played at the live-streamed Glastonbury 2021.

Mr Kelly said throwing pianos away did a "disservice" to the skills involved in making them in the first place and was a "needless waste" of materials such as rare woods, cast iron, brass, felt and copper.

“Knowing what to do with the steady stream of old unwanted pianos is a major issue for the piano trade and for piano owners," he added.

"Responsible disposal is expensive, time-consuming and a tragic waste of manufacturing skills and of a wide range of materials, as well as an environmental burden because of the impact on landfill sites.

"[Played and Remade] enables skilled artists to make something magical and new by giving them free access to materials which would otherwise end up on a scrap heap."

The piano business, established 40 years ago, will be selling the art in its London Road shop and also online.