Time is ‘key’ to saving pianos

Time is fast running out to save a Burwell man’s collection of historic pianos – some of which date back to the 1790s.

It was reported by the Louth Leader last month that Bill Kibby-Johnson, a musician of more than 60 years, has been trying to find music work in order to fund his dream of creating a proper museum to showcase his collection of 49 vintage pianos and two harmoniums.

At present, the pianos are being stored in a damp, leaking outbuilding on land next to their home, and Bill cannot afford to either rent or purchase a building of the size needed – around 500sq – to house them all as paid music gigs are very hard to come by these days.

Unfortunately, Bill and his wife Beth have been given notice by their landlord to move out, which they must do by Friday (August 25), so they were left looking for a new home for themselves and Bill’s historic pianos – or they will have to be scrapped.

There is now good news and bad news – the good news is the couple have found a home with a sizeable garage to house up to eight or nine of Bill’s pianos and some of the information boards he has created for his museum – but the bad news is that the garage is not big enough to house the other 40.

"What we’re trying to do is find a museum with room for all the pianos and put the history displays around, but we’ve not found anywhere big enough and we’ve not found anyone interested in investing in it,” Bill said.

Unfortunately, if a new home cannot be found for Bill’s pianos, he will need to either scrap them, or get rid of them another way.

"I’m really struggling with the idea that I’ll have to push them out of the door and set them alight – but we’re running out of time,” Bill said, “We just don’t have the money to buy a building and I was hoping someone would be interested in investing, but no-one has come forward.”

Their options now are threefold – they are hoping for sponsorship from interested parties to get the museum saved, to find some arts funding that they are eligible for, or for anyone who has a large space suitable for Bill’s museum and would allow him to house his collection there to get in touch.

If anyone would be able to help Bill, you can contact him by calling 07969 778428 or visit his website at https://www.pianohistory.info/