UB’s mystery piano

James Sheppard, a musician and one of the first piano sellers, traveled from England to Buffalo.

Like many musicians, he was attached to his instruments and couldn’t stand the thought of leaving his pianos back in England, so they made the long voyage across the Atlantic with him, up the Hudson river and across the then-new Erie Canal to Buffalo.

Now, nearly 200 years after Sheppard’s intercontinental trip, one of those pianos might’ve found its way to North Campus.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, piano technician Devin Zimmer found one being used as a sign-in table in Slee Hall.

At first glance, he knew that it was more than just a beat-up piano. “Because of what I do for a living, I could tell that it was very old and it was in very poor shape,” he said.

Though there’s no hard proof tying the piano to Sheppard, the circumstantial evidence makes him a plausible past owner. The piano was completed in 1819, in time for Sheppard’s voyage to Buffalo in 1827. Photos of Sheppard’s pianos bear a striking resemblance to the one that sits in Zimmer’s office now.

“We think the piano that we had was the lesser-fancier piano that we have a photo of,” Zimmer said. 

The piano is too old to repair, but Zimmer has other plans: produce a replica in his workshop.

“It’ll require a lot of precision,” Zimmer said. “I’ve been making drawings and starting to plan and work up models.”

Building a replica won’t be easy. Half the battle will be getting volunteers, according to Zimmer. The project won’t cost a lot of money, but it’ll take a lot of manhours.

“My time is expensive,” Zimmer said.

But the fate of the original piano is still in flux. Zimmer says it’s much too soon to decide and worry about that, given how early in the process they still are.

“I could die tomorrow, and it’ll be sitting there,” Zimmer said.

Josh Pawlik is an assistant arts editor and can be reached at josh.pawlik@ubspectrum.com

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