{"id":36529,"date":"2025-08-01T03:45:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T03:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/36529\/"},"modified":"2025-08-01T03:45:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T03:45:10","slug":"pop-up-piano-rescued-from-nyngan-floods-strikes-a-new-chord-in-cobar-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/36529\/","title":{"rendered":"Pop-up piano rescued from Nyngan floods strikes a new chord in Cobar community"},"content":{"rendered":"

A piano rescued from the 1990s Nyngan floods is striking a chord in a mining town in outback New South Wales.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The upright piano has been installed in an open arcade next to the town library in Cobar for locals and travellers to stop, play and connect through music.<\/p>\n

It is part of the ABC’s Pop-Up Piano project<\/a> \u2014 a national initiative in collaboration with musical composer and artist Yantra de Vilder and Piano Plus Australia \u2014 to bring creativity into public spaces and celebrate the ABC series The Piano.<\/p>\n

Out of 400 nominations across the country, Cobar is one of 20 towns selected to receive a donated piano.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The piano was donated by a resident in Nyngan after it survived the 1990s floods. (ABC Western Plains: Zaarkacha Marlan)<\/p>\n

Dr de Vilder, who has installed pianos in public places for more than a decade, said Cobar’s community spirit and regional location made it a stand-out.<\/p>\n

“When you think of a library, you think: ‘Shhh, be quiet’, but the library said: ‘No, we want a piano, the community wants this,'” she said.<\/p>\n

“There was also a lot of grassroots community support for Cobar, and we also wanted to do something in a regional location that’s a little far flung than the Blue Mountains or Darling Harbour.”<\/p>\n

Community rallies behind piano bid<\/p>\n

The piano’s presence in the remote mining town with a population of about 4,000 people began when local music teacher Judy Toomey shared the nomination link online on a community social media page, sparking a wave of community support.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Apparently, the nominations said such nice things about Cobar, they couldn’t possibly pass it up,” Ms Toomey said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Judy Toomey was the driving force behind bringing the piano to Cobar. (ABC Western Plains: Zaarkacha Marlan)<\/p>\n

Ms Toomey said the project was already sparking connections in the community.<\/p>\n

“One Saturday, I was playing and a lady walking past asked me if I knew a song,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I started playing, she joined in singing, and she was amazing.<\/p>\n

“I started crying, and I looked at her and she had tears in her eyes too.<\/p>\n

“I’d never met her in my life, but that’s what music does \u2014 it brings people together, it mends broken hearts, it gives you a lift when you aren’t feeling the best.”Old keys, new connections\u00a0<\/p>\n

For library manager Jane Siermans, the piano’s journey from the 1990 Nyngan floods to its new home 130 kilometres west in Cobar gave it a unique local resonance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On April 23, 1990, the Bogan River peaked at 5.3 metres, breaching Nyngan’s levee and submerging the entire community in a flood<\/a> that was later deemed a one-in-250-year event.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Emergency<\/p>\n

More than 15 helicopters were used to evacuate residents from Nyngan in 1990. (Supplied: Nyngan community)<\/p>\n

Despite residents’ efforts to place 150,000 sandbags to reinforce the levee, the disaster forced the evacuation of 2,500 people in one of the largest airlifts in Australian history.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The expert who came and tuned the piano said it was not in the floodwater, and must have been lifted up somehow because it wasn’t water damaged,” Ms Siermans said.<\/p>\n

“It’s fitting; it does mean we’ve ended up with a piano that has a local connection.”<\/p>\n

Piano’s new home<\/p>\n

The piano was officially launched in Cobar on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Cobar local Anthony Mitchell played a five-minute medley from Pirates of the Caribbean at the piano’s launch concert.<\/p>\n

“You see pianos in airports and hotels, but to have one here in Cobar is something else,” he said.\"A<\/p>\n

Anthony Mitchell says he will play the piano every time he is down the main street of Cobar. (ABC Western Plains: Zaarkacha Marlan)<\/p>\n

The self-taught pianist continues to make the piano a regular stop.<\/p>\n

“I don’t use sheet music, I can’t play with it at all. I just either hear it and play it or look it up on YouTube,” Mr Mitchell said.<\/p>\n

Don’t miss your local Pop Up Piano community concert<\/a><\/p>\n

If you loved the ABC series, The Piano, check this list to find out where your nearest community piano is.<\/p>\n

“Every week I’ll be using this piano. It’s just a beautiful instrument, 88 keys, there’s nothing like it.”<\/p>\n

Fellow Cobar resident and singer Lillian Simpson said the project had struck a chord with residents and visitors alike.<\/p>\n

“It’s being played every day, not just by locals but by travellers too,” she said.<\/p>\n

Rediscovering the notes<\/p>\n

Local mum and pianist Cathy Francisco said the piano had given her a reason to reconnect with music.<\/p>\n

“I’ve been playing for 20 years, but obviously life, growing up and having kids, put it on the backburner for a while,” she said.<\/p>\n

“But now the kids are older and I’m spending more time getting back into music again.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Cathy Francisco says the piano is great for the Cobar community, regardless of age or ability. (ABC Western Plains: Zaarkacha Marlan)<\/p>\n

At the piano’s launch, she played the 1982 theme from The Man from Snowy River.<\/p>\n

“The town just needs more musical opportunities,” Ms Francisco said.<\/p>\n

“To have this, you’re encouraging people of any age to come up and play whenever they want, and it doesn’t matter what you sound like.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A piano rescued from the 1990s Nyngan floods is striking a chord in a mining town in outback…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36530,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,33046,33041,5214,33043,134,33047,136,33044,11255,33042,11921,33045],"class_list":["post-36529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-classical","tag-cobar","tag-community","tag-community-music","tag-entertainment","tag-judy-toomey","tag-music","tag-piano","tag-pop","tag-pop-up-pianos","tag-singing","tag-the-piano"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36529\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}