Pianist's Free Lessons Transform Lives in Scholes

0:00On April 5th, a 64-year-old concert pianist named Alan Gregory is changing lives in Shoals, Wiggin by offering free and low-cost piano, lessons to folks who can't afford the usual high prices, growing up poor and greater Manchester, Alan dreamed of piano lessons but his family couldn't pay, so he taught himself on a beat-up old upright ace. His exams and built a pro career. After losing his wife Winifred to cancer at 48, Alan started teaching over 20 years ago at his studio, pianos, pies, and pirouettes. Turning his grief into a mission to make music accessible for everyone, he gives four free lessons to beginners, then charges just 7 pounds 50 each while juggling 60 pupils and 70 to 80 hour weeks even, dipping into his own pension to keep it going. 16-year-old pupil Tegan, who's been learning for 6 months, calls Alan a game-changer, dreaming of cruise ship gigs and seeing the world through. The piano proof his passion echoes far beyond the keys.