Our story

 

Pianodrome CIC was set up in 2017 by band mates Tim Vincent-Smith and Matthew Wright to build the world’s first amphitheatre made entirely from up-cycled pianos. The delivery of the Pianodrome at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in August 2018, for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, saw 18,000 visitors, attracting critical acclaim and international recognition.  

The Pianodrome has since become an iconic symbol of community and cultural resilience in Scotland’s capital. We were commissioned in 2021 to build a series of 10 interactive sculptures from up-cycled pianos for the Leeds International Piano Competition’s city-wide Piano Trail, which has since won an award from the Royal Philharmonic Society.

In 2022 we took over the Old Royal Highschool on Calton Hill, where we ran a full-spectrum programme of over 200 shows across 60 glorious summer days.

In early 2023 our first international project saw us working with the Charlotte SHOUT festival to build a Pianodrome in Charlotte, NC in the USA.

The Old Royal Pianodrome and our Leith Sculpture Trail are currently based at the Wee Hub in Ocean Terminal, Leith, where we have been running our Adopt-a-Piano scheme - a cat-and-dog home for homeless pianos - since the beginning of 2023. In September we reached 100 pianos re-homed since the start of the year.

We also run workshops, Adapt-a-piano sessions, one off concerts and are open to commissions. Look around our website for more information - or go to Our Projects for a deep dive in to each of our projects.

Half a Piano Cube (2016)

Musician and artist Tim Vincent-Smith plays the Piano Cube with Danill Duomov and others and talks about his exciting new project, a vast “Pianodrome”.

Filmed by Anna Bowman

Baby Pianodrome (2017)

In August 2017 we built a mini 30-seater Pianodrome (Baby Pianodrome) and opened it as a free performance venue and community space.

Olivier Bardina filmed the opening.

Pianodrome documentary (2018)

Watch this award-winning documentary, created by Melt the Fly, to see the highs and lows of the construction of the first Pianodrome in the summer of 2018.

Pianodrome at the Pitt (2019)

Photos by Chris Scott

Pianodrome in Leith Theatre (2019)

Photos by Chris Scott

Latest projects