Republic era's first pianos under restoration

Joel Jobe.

The world's leading piano restorer has arrived in Turkey to restore the Turkish Republic's first pianos, which are valued at hundreds of thousands of Turkish Liras.

Lausanne Music School and Conservatory Head of Piano Department, Joel Jobe, will revive 60-70 year old pianos owned by Hacettepe University Ankara State Conservatory, one of Turkey's first conservatories established in 1936.

Speaking of the importance of renovating of old pianos, Jobe said that as well as reviving the instruments, he was discovering the production methods of the past.

Jobe said he restored pianos dating back to 1830s. Among the most impressive piano he has worked on is the current project carried out with the Ankara State Conservatory, said Jobe.

He said he had come to Ankara three years ago to take concert records from internationally acclaimed pianist ?dil Biret, when he was informed about the pianos in the conservatory. "The project started last year with one piano and now six pianos have been restored," he added.

Jobe said the oldest piano in the conservatory was from the 1940s. "When I saw the pianos for the first time, I found them very tired. It is actually a miracle that they can still be functional. And students here are very brave because they work with these troubled pianos. However, these pianos were of high quality at first, but they had been destroyed through time," he added.

He said they had to understand the damage in the pianos before starting the restoration and then the pianos were dismantled after the documenting and photographing processes. He said they tried to find the original material to get the same wood and metal quality. "Later on, the piano undergoes a long testing process," he said. ...