Yamaha has given a new piano to Aric Harding of Houston, Texas, after Harding’s own piano was ruined in Hurricane Harvey.
The piano, a Yamaha model P22SE upright, was donated his family by Yamaha Corporation of America after executives saw a video in late August of Harding playing his family’s prized instrument in several feet of floodwater following Hurricane Harvey.
In the video, Harding’s son Rylor, an aspiring musician, grew concerned about his family’s old Yamaha piano, so Aric decided to play it, even though it was sitting in several feet of water.
“So much was out of our hands,” Harding said.
That video, posted on Instagram, went viral, and became a sign of hope for all who were flooded out during Hurricane Harvey, with the story of the video featured on CNN.
Tom Sumner, senior vice president of Yamaha Corporation of America, had been alerted to the video by Yamaha Artist Vanessa Carlton.
“It was kind of mournful seeing Aric sitting there in the water playing our piano,” he said. “I told him that Yamaha would be honored to provide him with a new one, free of charge, as soon as he was able to receive it.”
Harding and his son Rylor were invited to Fort Bend Music Center to pick out the replacement. The happy ending story appeared on nearly 200 online news sites, as well as on CNN and ABC “World News Tonight.”
“So many blessings have come out of this flood,” said Rylor Harding.
“Music has always been a part of our family and we have a piece of the family back,” Aric Harding said. “Music will fill our home again.”
