Two Men and Two Pianos have struck their final synchronized chord.
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Bill Gleeson and Richard Hutt have raised over $500,000 dollars for charity, ever since serendipitously running into each other in London in the early 1980's, several years after formerly competing against each other in the Tamworth Eisteddfod as children.
Amazingly Mr Hutt has never had a piano lesson, and despite "playing piano ever since I could climb on a stool" can't read sheet music to this day, while Mr Gleeson has to try a touch harder, but adds plenty of relish to the entertainment.
"We did a lot of performances together as kids and then met up again both working in the aviation industry in London," Mr Gleeson said.
"We were having a drink together in the Piano Bar at the Mayfair Hotel in 1982, and just thought we could do better, so knocked the pianist off his stool, sat down and played."
The rest is history.
"We used to play on one piano, and I am not sure if the stools shrunk or we grew, but we started needing two pianos," Mr Gleeson said.
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Over the years the pair have never taken a cent of profit from hundreds of performances, playing for any and every charity who put out the call, and everywhere from the finest ballroom to the dingiest broom closet.
"One of the finest performances was playing two Steinway grand pianos on a Sydney Harbour cruise - it was magic," Mr Hutt said.
"The next day we were playing in a hall at Merriwa with a big rat's nest in the piano - it had to be honky tonk that night."
That 24 hour period paints a vivid picture of the Two Men and Two Pianos modus operandi, and encapsulates their two in all in attitude to giving back to the community, summed up by holding their final performance at the Tamworth Senior's Week Awards.
"It is a dying art. You don't often see two pianos played at the same time that aren't in an orchestra, but to do it you need 20 fingers hitting the keys at the exact same time - it takes a lot of dexterity and practice," Mr Gleeson said.
"We might do a cameo every now and then, but we won't be doing another full show.
"It has been a very good era - really enjoyable, but it is an era we thought should finish."
