After a sudden and traumatic spinal cord injury, classically trained pianist Riccardo Baldini found himself paralyzed from the waist down.
It was April of 2019 when Riccardo Baldini, then 25-years-old, went to sleep and woke up paralyzed.
“My right leg was still working but my left had no feeling,” said Riccardo, who at the time had no idea the severity of what had happened.
Riccardo had a spinal cavernoma – a cluster of abnormal blood vessels in his spinal cord which burst overnight. From perfectly healthy one minute to a world turned upside-down the next, Riccardo was left to navigate life as he knew it now paralyzed from the waist down.
“I started playing the piano when I was 5 years old. Overnight, I lost everything.”
Classically trained, Riccardo explains how 80% of music requires use of the right pedal, also known as the sustain or damper pedal. By holding it down, pianists are able to hold sound on a note – allowing it to resonate – well after the key has been released.
A week after his injury, while still in acute care, Riccardo tried to play only to be met with frustration with what he was no longer able to do. His next two months were spent between acute care and the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital.
“I searched everywhere for systems that might help me play again,” said Riccardo, who continued to be met with disappointment with what was available for musicians within the disability community.
And so he built his own. Resonate was born.
Named after the primary function of the right pedal, Resonate allows pianists to push the pedal using a mouth splinter.
Enlisting the help of local mechanical engineer, Steve Bosch, he was able to move the technology from protype to product all within three years.
Beyond his own ambitions, Riccardo talks about his greater purpose for Resonate.
“As a kid, you have these dreams. I imagined kids with disabilities and their dreams broken simply because they are in a wheelchair. I would like to give them these dreams back by showing them that it is possible.”
We are thrilled to have Riccardo joining us at the 2025 Courage Gala, Friday, April 11 at the Edmonton Convention Centre. Learn more or get your tickets, here.
