Truckee High's Music Room is a rehearsal space used throughout the performing arts — daily by Jazz Band, Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, and by dance and theater groups in rehearsals for stage productions — and is equipped with several large, fixed instruments shared by many students and accompanists. Central among these is the Sohmer & Co "parlor grand" piano, which has been kept in playable condition in that classroom for decades, but in recent moves suffered some casing damage which now requires more costly repair. As this piano was built around 1927 and has seen heavy daily use, it has been showing signs of its age for some time, particularly in the need for frequent re-tuning, and so we have been investigating both the costs of restoration and replacement with a comparable, younger, instrument. In balance, we feel that replacement is the best long-term investment for the classroom.
Having a less delicate piano of similar quality and size (5-6ft) in the THS Music Room will give students access to an instrument which can maintain it's tuning better under heavy daily use, lessen the current need for frequent maintenance, and better serve its purposes among the singers and other instruments in rehearsals.
The current 1920s piano in the THS Music Room is still in daily use — despite damage to its casing that requires it to be propped-up by stacks of paper in order to be played — and is generally not well-suited for the heavy use it gets in this position. Replacing it with an instrument of more appropriate build and type for this classroom will allow students to play fully in rehearsals, without fear of causing the instrument further damage or throwing it out-of-tune.
We have located a dealer who will trade fair value for THS's 90-year-old piano with plans for its restoration/resale and deliver to us an instrument which is more likely to withstand the demands of daily classroom use. From current stock, we have selected a Baldwin Model R (5'8" grand) in excellent condition. Trading the damaged existing instrument will allow THS to acquire a newer piano at a reduced cost, and allow the older piano to be restored and placed somewhere where it can be used more appropriately for its age and build.
The THS Music Room is used across all the performing arts groups, and we would expect the classroom piano to be used by all of them.
This is the projected cost of the new piano, including taxes, after receiving $1500 credit for the current THS band room piano in exchange. This price includes delivery of the new piano, return of the old, along with initial set-up and tuning.
We continue to seek additional funding from sources including Measure A, TEMPO (the music program fundraising / booster club), and local civic organizations including Kiwanis, Rotary, and the Optimists.
Because of the dramtically-higher cost of a new piano, we continue to scour reputable used-piano dealers for suitable instruments, and the specific piano we will eventually purchase will be necessarily chosen from what we can find available on the market after funding is granted. That said, all of the used pianos we have found which are suitable for the needs of Truckee High and in good condition, are roughly in the same price range as the example listing linked above.