Siberia may be a vast, hostile landscape with a bloody past. But scattered through this expanse are extraordinary pianos. They were brought by governors, exiles and adventurers before the roads and railways opened up Siberia at the turn of the twentieth century. After the 1917 Revolution, pianos were again distributed all over Siberia, benefitting Russians who had never before had access to a musical education. Piano culture continued to thrive after the Second World War. Then with the breakdown of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, numerous instruments were left to rot when funding ran out. Often all that is left of a piano’s backstory can be gleaned from the … Continue reading The Lost Pianos of Siberia