Piano People

Ideal scenario: I sit down at one of the 60 donated pianos that have been placed strategically throughout the five boroughs of NYC by a public-art group called Sing for Hope. After a few warm-up scales I tear into a two-minute version of Chopin’s Minute Waltz and then segue into some syncopated Joplin ragtime; finishing up with selected Sondheim standards, encouraging my audience to sing along, which they do loudly and enthusiastically; especially the ringing crescendo of the first-act curtain of the title number in Sunday in the Park with George. How thrilling and heartwarming! The only thing wrong with this scenario is that I don’t know how to play the piano.

But if I did play, the scenario is now available. On Monday morning at 9:00 the curtain went up on an art installation called “Play Me, I’m Yours” and music for, and by, the masses should be forthcoming over the next couple of weeks (it ends July 5). 36 pianos have been placed in parks and on street corners in Manhattan, 10 in Brooklyn, 6 in Queens, 4 in the Bronx and 4 on Staten Island. They have all been tuned as much as is possible (some of the instruments are pretty old) and they have all been painted/decorated by local artists.

This “installation” is by Luke Jerram, a Brit from Bristol, and similar works are expanding around the world including Sydney, Australia and Cincinnati, Ohio. Keep and ear out at a park or street corner near you and if your piano teacher was more than a half-wit maybe you can bang out a few bars, just don’t expect any tips other than of the “what did you do with the money your mother gave you for lessons?” ilk.