Leominster

Moving Music: Piano Preservationist Must Relocate Massive Collection

Eugene Roe, 84, of Greenville, New Hampshire, needs to move his over 350-piece collection because his landlord is selling the building

A man who has been restoring thousands of pianos over the past several years is being asked to relocate his Fitchburg, Massachusetts, studio — and the more than 350 pianos he has collected.

Eugene Roe, 84, of Greenville, New Hampshire, has been tuning pianos at Piano Artisans for decades on the second floor of a former mill building on Oak Hill Lane.

"It's one of the coolest jobs in the world and it's totally soul satisfying to tune a piano," he said Wednesday.

The former electronics engineer said that, when he lost his job back in 1970, he turned to piano tuning and restoration. Roe's ear is impeccable while his knowledge about each piano is astounding.

"People don't realize the piano represents the highest manufactured art object ever made," Roe said.

But in the next week, Roe will need to move the hundreds of pianos he has collected because his landlord is selling the building where he's kept them.

He said since people got word he is moving, he has sold some pianos which will help him towards his move to a smaller location on North Main Street in Leominster.

And despite the business slowing down each year and people abandoning pianos at his shop, Roe refuses to leave any behind.

"When these guys are gone, they are gone. They are not going to be replaced," Roe said. "I love pianos so much. I can't stand to throw them away."

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