P.E.I. couple buys 100-year-old piano that's a part of history, including their own
'It feels like more than just an instrument. It really feels like a living thing'
A century-old piano that spent decades at the University of Prince Edward Island now has a deserving new home with a family who also has a history with the instrument.
The 1925 Steinway and Sons model O baby grand piano had a long tenure in UPEI's music department, where countless students practised and performed on it over the years.
That's why Rory O'Donnell could hardly believe his luck when he noticed in the spring that it was going up for bid through the university's procurement system.
Luckier still, UPEI called to say his was the winning bid on the piano, which now sits in the living room of his Stratford home.
"I would compare it to … winning the lottery. It was like, 'Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, we got a Steinway,'" O'Donnell recalled.
"The first thing I did when I got off the phone with them was call my wife and let her know, and we were both ecstatic. The first thing she said was, 'We're getting rid of the dining room table.'"
O'Donnell and his wife, Hannah, had good reason to rearrange some furniture to accommodate the Steinway.
The music program at UPEI is where the two met.
They've made music together ever since, along with two daughters — five-year-old Aoife and Maeve, 2.
Rory and Hannah both still perform and teach music to their daughters and students, so the chance to own the piano that was so formative in their own education was too good to pass up.
"It was kind of like a friend for generations of music students, some of whom are no longer with us, and the knowledge that they would've played this piano too is really special," Hannah said.
"It feels like more than just an instrument. It really feels like a living thing."
'It's priceless to us'
Founded in 1853, Steinway and Sons are world-renowned for producing high-quality pianos — and they typically don't come cheap.
Prices can range from tens of thousands of dollars up to several hundred thousand for rare models.
Rory said he put in a bid he could live with for UPEI's baby grand. In the end, though, using it to foster the family's love of music right in their own living room is something he can't put a price on.
"The fact that we can make this a part of our family and something that we can pass down to our daughters and something they can pass down," he said. "It's more than just an instrument, it's priceless to us."
Most mornings, Hannah and Rory can hear Aoife in the living room, coaxing Ode to Joy or Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star from the ivories. Other times, her parents help her play Pink Pony Club by Chappell Roan.
While the five-year-old may not yet realize that she's making music on a piece of history, she does understand one thing — the piano was worth sacrificing the dining room table for.
"I like playing on pianos," Aoife said.
"You get to play on it, and dining room tables you just get to sit at."
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With files from Mainstreet P.E.I