Editor’s Note: This story has been updated for clarification. 

Students from the WKU music department helped host a fundraiser to fund the purchase of new pianos on Jan. 14. 

The fundraiser itself happened before the spring semester started. It was a dinner and show event at Tayvin Gardens, with the waitstaff and performers being volunteers and WKU students, alumni or staff from the music department. The proceeds went towards the purchase of new acoustic pianos for the WKU music department. 

Katie Drybrough, an organizer of the fundraiser and event, and Dalton Childress, a freshman piano performance major who helped to spearhead the idea for the fundraiser, helped to organize the event, with tickets to the event including the price of a four course meal and the musical entertainment.  

“We’ve got about twenty to thirty practice pianos,” Drybrough said. “[…] Most of those pianos are just very out of shape at this point. They’ve gotten to the point where so many people have played on them and used them that no matter how much tuning or care is given to them, they don’t hold their tune anymore.” 

The pianos being out of tune or possibly having various other issues hinders their practices and sets them up for failure during their performances if they have to perform on said pianos. 

So far, the fundraiser has raised approximately $12,000 due to effort from participants and guests.

“We’ve already got a good total on what we raised[…] and we’re going to be able to purchase a used grand piano with that money,” Drybrough said. “We’re hoping to make this an annual thing, because this is the first year we’ve done a fundraiser like this. We’re hoping that we will be able to have a bigger turn-out the next year we do something like this.” 

While the event was being advertised, former WKU music students reached out and commented that they were the same pianos they played on when they were students here thirty years ago. 

“Music is a universal language,” Drybrough said. “Not everybody necessarily is trained in music, but anybody can be a musician, anybody can sing, it doesn’t require any previous training to do […] It’s just a wonderful sense of community, and it’s just a way to express yourself without having to use defined words or thoughts.” 

Donations are still accepted via Venmo @WKU-Piano-Studio or a check made out to the WKU music department.

News reporter Damon Stone can be contacted at [email protected].