I was so pleased to win the Creative Catalyst award. It was highly competitive and demanded real commitment and focus to achieve. Support from Innovate UK means I can work with Professor Neil Thomas MBE, a truly world-leading structural engineer, and composites manufacturer Atlas Composite Technologies to bring a lightweight prototype to life.
Dr Sarah Nicolls, Visiting Senior Research Fellow in Music and Engineering
21 October 2025
'It's time to improve the piano': Dr Sarah Nicolls wins grant to develop a light vertical piano
200 years since the last piano was designed by a woman, Dr Sarah Nicolls is changing history by making the instrument lightweight and vertical.
First Light Pianos company, led by Dr Sarah Nicolls, Visiting Senior Research Fellow in Music and Engineering, has been awarded Innovate UK Collaborative R&D: Creative Catalyst funding.
Dr Nicolls’ project Building Lightness – Towards the First Light Pianos aims to develop a lightweight acoustic vertical grand piano to serve music-makers around the world.
‘Since 1880, music and lifestyles have transformed. The piano has barely changed,’ says Dr Sarah Nicolls. ‘600,000 pianos sold every year are all traditional grands or uprights, heavy, outdated. The only technological evolution (digital keyboards) has stripped the strings, removing the acoustic, resonant experience.’
A renowned concert pianist, Dr Sarah Nicolls has performed across Europe, Asia, South America and the US. In her music, she reaches into the piano to play directly on strings. ‘It sounded great, but felt uncomfortable, so I decided to redesign the piano. I envisioned a lightweight, vertical grand piano, fit for the 21st century.’
In Building Lightness, Dr Nicolls will partner with Atelier One and Atlas Composite Technologies.
Professor Neil Thomas MBE will lead the engineering and design. He is the founder of Atelier One, an internationally renowned award-winning British structural engineering company behind Singapore's 'Gardens by the Bay', the 2012 World Building of the Year, and Anish Kapoor's 'Cloud Gate' in Chicago.
Atlas Composite Technologies is the project’s industrial research partner and will bring Dr Nicolls’ idea to life.
‘It's been 200 years since the last piano designed by a woman (1823) and the first cast iron piano frame was patented (1825). In the birthplace of piano manufacturing (Broadwood, 1726), this project could change history’, says Dr Sarah Nicolls.
Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, is the UK’s innovation agency. It works to create a better future by inspiring, involving and investing in businesses developing life-changing innovations.
Through Collaborative R&D: Creative Catalyst, Innovate UK will invest up to £2 million in collaborative innovation projects. The aim of this competition is to advance the development of collaboration with innovators in the creative industries.
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Visiting Senior Research Fellow in Music and Engineering