Church treats old Steinway to new life Parish spends $30K to refinish and refurbish 80-year-old piano PHOTOSBY CHRIS KELLY staff Brenda Day, minister of music at the First Presbyterian Church of Metuchen, plays a Frederick Chopin piece on the church's newly refinished and refurbished black 1926 Model B Steinway piano during the special rededication concert at the church on Nov. 19. Below, the inside of the newly refurbished black 1926 Model B Steinway piano. The 88 keys on the black 80-year-old Model B Steinway piano was just not fun to play on anymore. Everything was just old - the hammers, the harp, the sound board, the bridges, the keys, the wood - everything. "Every time we would have to play on it, we ended up with sore arms," said Brenda Day, minister of music at the First Presbyterian Church of Metuchen. "It was just difficult and not fun." The Steinway has been restored to what it was like when it was first bought by the Women's Guild in 1926. The inside was refurbished and the outside was refinished. Assistant organist Bill Kistler, Elaine Hansen, director of the bell choir and an accompanist at the church, and Day played some Franz Schubert, Ludwig Van Beethoven and contemporary religious pieces on the newly refinished and refurbished piano during a rededication concert on Nov. 19 at the church. The Women's Guild bought the Steinway for $5,000 for church concerts. Members of the church were contemplating on what to do with the old piano. "We definitely wanted to keep the piano, but we knew we had to do something," said Day. "When the piano tuner came to tune the piano, he told us that it was better to refurbish the piano rather than buy a new one. He told us that the best Steinways were made between 1900 and 1929. Kind of like a fine wine." Then members contemplated on whether to just refurbish the inside of the piano or also refinish it. "The cost to just refurbish the inside was $19,000," said Day. "The piano would be sent away to be fixed, but when it would come back, it would still look ugly." Day believes the church members made the right decision to spend the extra $11,000 to refinish the piano. "The piano went out to be fixed by Edward Riedinger in Martinsville in May, and it came back to us in October," said Day. The church raised $30,000 for the whole project. The piano received new hammers, the sound board was replaced, the harp was reguilded, new bridges were put in place, and everything was restrung. Day said a parishioner told her that he was not so sure he would hear a difference when the piano came back. "We played the piano for the first time during services on Nov. 12," said Day. "He came up to me after and said he did hear a difference." - Kathy Chang