Piano Mill

A Piano Mill is a hybrid building and musical instrument located at Willsons Downfall in Northern New South Wales, Australia. It was designed and purpose-built to house sixteen reclaimed pianos in a tower structure. The instrument is designed to have the sixteen pianos played simultaneously.[1]

General information
AddressHarringans Lane
Town or cityWillsons Downfall, NSW
CountryAustralia
Website
Piano Mill
External view of the Piano Mill
View of the Piano Mill in context at night, illuminated from within.
Internal view of the Piano Mill
The Pianists

History

The first Piano Mill, constructed in Willsons Downfall, Northern New South Wales, Australia, was designed by architect Bruce Wolfe specifically for composer Erik Griswold.[2] This structure is a copper clad tower approximately 9m tall with a footprint of 4.5m X 4.5m and its lowest floor is 1.6m above the ground allowing the pianos to be installed post-construction.[3] The mill is equipped with tuned grader blades as chimes and two sonic periscopes. To launch The Piano Mill, Griswold composed a new work, All’s grist that comes to the mill, that responds to various influences such as architecture, the natural environment and Australia's colonial history.[4][5] It was performed in the Piano Mill on Sunday March 27, 2016, and since that time there have been two subsequent pieces written for the instrument.[6]

The first Piano Mill has won awards including a World Architecture Festival 2018 Award for the Culture category, a National Commendation at the Australian Institute of Architects 2017 Awards and a National Award for Experimental Music at the 2017 APRA AMCOS Art Music Awards.

[7][8][9]

References
  1. "The Piano Mill". Resonate Magazine. Australia: Australian Music Centre.
  2. Wolfe, Bruce (2018). The Piano Mill. Melbourne, Australia: Uro Publications. p. 96. ISBN 9780994396600.
  3. Li, Rosa. "Piano". Australia Highlife Downs Living. Queensland Magazines.
  4. Griswold, Erik (December 2017). "The Piano Mill: Nostalgic Music and Architecture in the Australian Bush". Leonardo Music Journal. - (27): 53–54.
  5. May, Melissa. "The Road to The Piano Mill". ABC Classic FM. Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
  6. Ward, Donna. "'Instrumental' building at Wilsons Downfall wins music award". Fairfax Media. Tenterfield Star.
  7. "World Architecture Festival 2018 Category Winners". World Architecture Festival. England: EMAP Publishing Limited.
  8. "2017 National Architecture Awards: Small Project Architecture Commendation". ArchitectureAU. Australia: Architecture Media.
  9. "Building powered by 16 pianos wins national gong". News Corp Australia. Stanthope Border Post.

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