How many times I visited as a student with Sidney Harrison to play concertos through on the numerous grand pianos that not only you could play but they also played themselves.

Saved from decay by Frank Holland who housed them in his garage until he found this deconsecrated church on the river in Brentford.They were his children that he jealously guarded.

Sidney Harrison was President of the piano museum and his wife,also Sydney,would often organise evenings to create funds for Liver Cancer research.On one occasion we played Czerny Semiramide transcription for 16 pianists on 8 pianos in a reduced version though.

Sidney and me,Eric Harrison,Graham Johnson,Linn Hendry  and Sidneys doctors` wife that very fine pianist, Irene Kohler.
Sidney had picked up only half the scores not realising that they were the ones with the accompaniment only.The ones with the tune were left behind in the RAM library!
I got the orchestral score and filled them in with one finger much to the disgust of all concerned who just thought I should have played them before!

Sidney Harrison was President of the Piano Museum and soon got the BBC interested in the historic performances on piano rolls that Frank Holland had collected over the years.There were late night programmes on  the ‘Third’ programme where I would listen mesmerised by performances of Godowsky, Rosenthal, Levitski and Lehvinne .There was talk of giving Franks  collection of instruments to the Victoria and Albert Museum to be housed in less leaky circumstances.

Frank did not want to relinquish control of his babies so he stayed in the leaky church until his death. Many years later this new building was constructed just down the road from the church on the river overlooking Kew Gardens. Obviously the funds from the sale of the converted flats in the church must have more than  subsidised this new building where the pianos are safely looked after by ex BBC experts happy to preserve this monument for  posterity to wonder at . 

Like most churches this too has not been spared from conversion into luxury flats.
The piano museum has moved down the road a few hundred yards into an specially contructed edifice.
A long way from Franks leaky garage.