Ten days after his injury, he tried to play the piano and quickly realized 
what he had lost. While his hands could move across the keys, something 
was missing. “For eighty percent of music, you need the damper pedal,” he 
says. The pedal allows pianists to sustain notes and shape the expression of 
the piece. Without it, the sound can feel flat and lack emotion. Without the 
use of his feet, Baldini lost the ability to control the pedal. “I wasn’t ready to 
stop playing, I needed to find a way to reconnect with music in a way that 
worked for my body,” he says. So he built one. 
Working with a local engineer, Baldini spent three years taking his idea 
from prototype to a working device. He calls the technology, Resonate. 
The device allows pianists to operate the piano’s damper pedal using a 
mouthpiece, giving people with limited or no lower-limb function the ability 
to control the pedal and play the instrument. 
In April 2025, Baldini took the technology to the stage at the Glenrose 
Hospital Foundation Courage Gala, and shortly afterward, he performed 
with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra for Anime in Concert. 
His hopes for the future of Resonate are bigger than himself. “Eventually, I 
hope to have production so that kids with disabilities can dream bigger.” 
With funding and support from the Glenrose 
Hospital Foundation and Prairies Economic 
Development Canada, Baldini has been able 
to assemble additional devices and begin 
fulfilling some of his first orders. 
For Baldini, helping children imagine what’s 
possible has become personal. “I’ve always 
wanted to have kids, and the fact that she 
exists, is still kind of surreal,” he says, holding his 
young daughter. Musician, farmer, and now 
father, he’s added what might be the most 
important role to date to his resume. 
Speaking on parenthood, he 
shares how it’s given him another 
perspective on disability. In 
addition to his toddler, he’s also 
a stepparent to a child with 
a disability, giving him lived 
understanding of some of the 
experiences and challenges 
that few parents can share. His 
partner Katie MacMillan says 
that’s created a different kind 
of connection between him 
and her daughter. 
“She listens to him way 
more because he has 
lived experience,” 
MacMillan shares. “It’s 
like, ‘Oh, I’m going to 
listen to you because 
you actually get it.’” 
Eventually, I 
hope to have 
production so 
that kids with 
disabilities can 
dream bigger.
– Riccardo Baldini

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