The Player Piano Group
The Player Piano Group was founded in 1959 by Frank Holland, who
also founded the Musical Museum, to bring together all those interested
in these instruments.
The group publishes a printed
bulletin four times a year and encourages contact between members by
additionally publishing an annual membership list and supporting an
online open forum, social networking web presence and video media
sharing experiences. Regular social meetings, where instruments are
displayed, played and admired give opportunities for meeting others of
similar interests, enjoying music or a good old fashioned sing-a-long
and (where would we be without it) the great hospitality of the events
host. The group has also arranged public concerts at London's South
Bank Centre and other venues covering music from classical to modern
and also runs a regular postal music roll auction in addition to
providing information about sources of music rolls, both new and old,
suppliers of restoration materials, professional restorers, museums,
and many other topics.
The player piano was introduced
around 1900 and produced in large numbers until the 1930s. The player
piano is both a musical instrument and a machine. The mechanical
mechanism plays the piano by means of a perforated roll of paper. Many
of these fascinating and complicated instruments are still in
existence, from the earliest type, namely the 'piano players' that were
a mechanical mechanism in a cabinet which could play any ordinary
piano, to the most sophisticated of the genre.
For further details of the benefits of membership see the Membership page or E-MAIL membership@pianolasociety.com. A full list of our officers may be found here