My name is Deacon Martin, I am a self-taught pianist and I am currently 15 years old. I have an older brother who plays guitar really well and also a bit of piano, a sister who sings, plays guitar, and a bit of piano, and my mom plays a bit of piano and the viola as well. One of my uncles and two of my grandparents are very musically inclined, and it seems that all of that musical inclination fell on me and my brother. I started playing instruments when I was 10, on a roll-up piano that my grandma bought me for my birthday. Although it was amazing at the time, and I learned on it, looking back, this piano was not of great quality, and it sounded terrible. I wanted something better, and around the age of 12 I had been to some piano stores, and played on beautiful grand pianos that sounded absolutely amazing. However, due to a recent financial problem, we have not been able to buy or save for a nice piano. My mom always talks about how she wants one so I can play it for her all day long, and I always talk about it too, but we always end up sad when the conversations end. This is why I want to revitalize and refurbish an old baby grand we recently picked up, to make it sound nice (because it sounds really bad right now), look amazing, and to be able to play it all day long without pressing any broken keys or getting tired of the bad sound it makes. Originally this piano was used in the Metropolitan Opera, owned and used by a very famous opera singer (who's name I can't remember). It was passed down from generation to generation, through the opera, until it ended up being passed to someone not in the opera. It was placed in a retirement home lobby, and was listed on Facebook Marketplace to be sold. My mom and I, constantly looking for piano deals and donations, found the listing. However, by the time we had decided to go check it out, it had been listed as sold. Although we were bummed out, we decided to go look at it anyway, in case the offer fell through. And when we got there, we talked to the owner and told him our story. I sat down, and played Passacaglia; a very easy (but impressive-sounding) song. The owner filmed, and sent the video to the original buyer. Within moments, the buyer had written back, and told the owner to just give the piano to me. So, aside from the piano-moving costs (of which I had to pay most of), we took possession of this free baby grand piano. Although it hadn't been tuned in a few decades, after it was (which I also had to pay for), it sounded nicer than anything I had owned before. However, it still doesn't sound amazing. A few of the keys don't work, and some get stuck sometimes. Also, our piano tuner took one of the hammers from it to repair, and unfortunately passed away shortly after, so we have no way to get that hammer back. I really want to restore this piano to play it for my mom all day, and maybe become a professional musician in my future.

• YEAR 1920-1930
• MAKE Knabe & Co.
• FINISH African Mahogany
• CATEGORY CONTESTANT