A MORE than 100-year-old piano that was hand-painted by Cairns First Nations artist Susan Reys and exhibited at the Cairns Art Fair (CIAF) this year, was at the centre of a performance by musicians from the Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO) Connect ensemble at Brisbane’s South Bank on Saturday, August 19. 

Ms Reys, who is a descendant of the Gugu Yimithirr Nation, Western Yalandji, Badjala, and Djirrabal people of Queensland, found the 117- year-old semi-grand ballroom piano at auction in Cairns in 2021. 

She spent 18 months transforming the well-maintained instrument, an Australian-made Beale, into a 3-D canvas titled, It’s Time To Listen, Let Me Tell You Another Story, featuring more than 11 cultural stories. 

For Ms Reys, the exhibition of her artwork at this year’s Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF) was a special moment, particularly when QSO Compose student Jonathan Platz took his seat to play as a special treat for fairgoers. 

The purchase of the painted piano by Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) was a further boost. 

In giving this musical instrument a new lease on life, Ms Reys said she could not be…