The Boomer Bus: 2016-03-15 Darnum Musical Village

We observed a sign along the Princess Highway that said "Musical Village".and curiousity got the better of us so we turned off in search of it. To our amazement we had stumbled upon a quaint village consisting of only a few buildings outside the community of Darnum in Victoria.which is set out as a typical Australian Village of late 1800's. It is home to over 300 entertaining instruments. It has instruments as rare and old as the Collard & Collard Square Grand Piano built in 1827 and the authentic 1878 William Anderson Pipe Organ. He even has Chopin's favorite Piano

On the grounds is a church that was originally built in Boolarra as a Wesleyan Church in 1890 it was moved to Trafalgar in 1896 where it became a Methodist Church. It was moved again in 1922 to make way for a Post Office and later moved to Darnum. In April of 1985 a church service was held in it . Inside, thee are numerous old pianos and instruments that have been rehabilitated. Of particular interest was the church installed Organ.that functioned with air pressure flowing through the pipes.

The musical Village is owned and operated by Albert Fox who is an accomplished musician himself. He was taught the trade of repairing and restoring all types of stringed instruments and offers repairing and tuning services to the world as needed. He has a small staff who are well trained musicians who he has taught the trade. Albert demonstrated virtually every piano in the building including those Player Pianos he restored. There were a rather large inventory of scrolls for the Player Pianos as well.

His workshop is crammed full of just about any tool you could think of and many you never heard of. There was one in particular that was in numerous pieces in different stages of repair. He replaces felt pads, cloth linings, keys, including a French Polishing finish.

Albert has designed his own brand of Piano and offers it to his customers as well as some made by China and Japan.