Help support our piano

In mid-2025 an Alex Steinbach grand piano was procured by PianoSoc for the USU Holme Building Common Room from the Maydwell family. Although the piano is publicly accessible to all individual students during building hours, as well as societies which book the space, PianoSoc is exclusively responsible for bearing the costs associated with its ongoing maintenance.

As of 2026, the Maydwell Piano is the only regularly-maintained piano on the University of Sydney main campus which is accessible to clubs, societies and individuals at no cost and at any time. Unlike university or USU-owned pianos, our society has been maintaining it regularly for the wider university community. 

• Other pianos owned by the USU, including the pianos located at ISL, Isabel Fidler and Reading Room, tend to be unmaintained. For example, the closest alternative piano in the Reading Room is an upright piano which has not been properly tuned in multiple years.

• University-owned pianos, such as the ones located in the Quad, Old Darlington School and Education, are deliberately stored or locked away to prevent public use. For example, the Quad piano, requires booked hire at a rate that would be considered exorbitant by most university societies, whilst the Conservatorium which manages ODS has blocked student group bookings since 2023 citing 'damage caused by student use'.

• Seymour Centre upright pianos must be booked in advance and are only for individual practice in small rooms.

We are so glad that the grand piano is bringing joy to so many groups and individuals across a variety of use cases. However, with more groups and individuals using the piano, it unfortunately requires more regular maintenance from extended use. 

Sadly, this maintenance has impacted our society significantly, as neither the USU nor the university provides any extra funding beyond our semester grant to offset maintenance costs. For reference, in Semester 2, 2025:

• We spent $640 on piano repairs in that semester alone (45% of our semester grant)

• We spent $660 on the initial piano move from the donor’s residence during the winter break of 2025 (46% of our semester grant)

• In total, we spent $1300 (i.e. 90% of our semester grant)

• As custodians of the piano, we have been responsible for all relevant administration, from the initial acquisition, scheduling tuning sessions, handling complaints and delegating an exec to monitor the piano’s maintenance contractors at each appointment. 

Piano tuning, even to a basic standard, costs hundreds of dollars due to the specialised labour required. The USU has rejected our request for them to support us financially with piano maintenance, nor has it invested in maintaining its own pianos to a decently playable standard. 

In 2026, we discovered significant issues with the Maydwell Piano from such extended use, including faulty regulation and stuck keys. Unfortunately, the current maintenance arrangement is fiscally unsustainable for our society and we are not only struggling to cover the costs of the piano, but also the cost of running our society’s own events. At this stage, the society is now making difficult choices about what repairs it can and can’t afford.

If your society regularly uses the Maydwell Piano — e.g for rehearsals, jams or performances — we would appreciate it if your society executive considered helping to financially support the piano. This does not have to be a particularly large amount, and can correspond with your society’s size or how frequently you use the piano. However, the amount of fiscal contribution we collectively receive has a direct correlation with the level of maintenance we can afford the piano. 

For example, if your society rehearses with the piano every teaching week of a semester, $195 per semester equates to just $15 per week of use. This is already a far lower rate than other alternate venues with instrument hire, including university venues (even after subsidies), but it can cover the cost of one basic tuning session.

For those who contribute on a regular basis, we are happy to publicly acknowledge such societies and individuals, and provide prioritised support or assistance with regards to the piano. If your society is interested in assisting with funding the piano’s maintenance, please email usydpianosoc [at] gmail.com and we'll be in touch soon! 

We're currently not taking donations from individuals, but if you'd like to support us, please continue to drop by our events and ensure you're encouraging others around you to take care of the piano by following our etiquette guidelines!

• Correction: The original appeal letter and statement posted on our website erroneously double-counted the piano removal as a repair. The correct amount spent on piano repair in Semester 2 of 2025 was $640, for a total expenditure of $1300 on the piano including removal fees. The correct amounts have now been updated and we apologise for this oversight.