Six years ago, Riccardo Baldini’s world changed overnight. While he slept, a cluster of blood vessels in his spine suddenly burst—something called a spinal cavernoma—leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.
As a classically trained pianist, Riccardo relies on more than just his hands to make music and the diagnosis marked a turning point in his artistic journey. While the condition is extremely rare, the prognosis is permanent.
Yet Riccardo wasn’t willing to give up on his dream of being a concert pianist.
“After my spinal cord injury, I lost the ability to use a traditional piano pedal, but I wasn’t ready to stop playing,” he shares. “I needed to find a way to reconnect with music in a way that worked for my body.”
The damper pedal is controlled by the foot and is a key part of piano performance. It sustains notes and shapes the music’s expression. Without it, the sound can feel flat and lack emotion. To solve this, Riccardo created Resonate, a device that allows users to operate the pedal using their mouth, giving them full creative control regardless of lower limb ability.
“Resonate has reconnected me to the piano,” said Riccardo, “it’s allowed me to ‘walk again’ with music, which has been incredibly healing.”
Now his technology is taking centre stage.
On June 13, Riccardo will join the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (ESO) for Anime in Concert at the Winspear Centre. The show celebrates the powerful, emotional music from anime favourites like Naruto, Princess Mononoke, and Attack on Titan, and brings these stories to life through music.
“Playing with the ESO is a dream for me,” Riccardo added. “Sharing the stage with so many professional musicians, using the device I created, feels like a full-circle moment of resilience and innovation.”
But his story isn’t just about adjusting to a new reality. It is about building new tools, finding solutions, and opening new possibilities for himself and others facing similar challenges.
“What started as a personal tool now allows other musicians with disabilities the chance to play, making music more accessible to everyone,” he says.
With support from PrairiesCan, the Glenrose Hospital Foundation’s Research & Innovation team will help Riccardo assemble devices for Resonate Adaptive’s first big orders. This partnership underscores PrairiesCan’s commitment to advancing medical technology and enhancing patient care.
