Blog & News
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Saturday, July 03, 2010
A Saturday with a Piano
Sing for Hope has been sponsoring a wonderful event in NYC these past few weeks and I was fortunate enough to get a bit of time free from rehearsals for Figaro to take part in it. "Play me I'm yours" is an interactive community art installation of 60 pianos in all five boroughs of the city of New York. I had the chance to be buddy to the beautiful little piano in Chelsea Market this past weekend. The experience was threefold for me: sharing in the joy of the random combustion of music with all of my fellow new yorkers, tourists and alike, inviting people young and old to make that music, and listening to the range of commentary from the passers by. Chelsea Market has such a unique atmosphere, add to it a piano that anyone can play, and you have the recipe for a magical day.
Two brief stories to share of the many which touched me. There was a steady stream of folks some doodling, some playing beautifully, everything from classical music, to heart and soul to musical theater favorites. Then a young lady, Maggie, approached the piano, tentatively at first, asking rather meekly if she could play. She sat down and started to doodle and settled on Lady Gaga. I am familiar with Lady Gaga (not as much as I should be perhaps) and as she continued to play the crowd around grew exponentially. Maggie was completely unaware of their presence. This young lady was visiting New York from Seattle, Washington, on a class trip and when she got up from the piano bench she was overwhelmed with the number of people who were listening. She turned to her teacher and I commenting "people really do listen."
A few hours later in the day an older woman hovered around the area, looking at the piano from afar clearly observing this anomalous beast and the people playing it. She began our conversation by saying, " why would you put a piano here..." After a bit more chatting she confessed that at she had played for years, but that at 86 she would not dare to touch the instrument. More time passed and after almost an hour of hovering and listening to others play she looked around to confirm the rare scarcity of onlookers, sat down at the piano and made it erupt with Mozart and Chopin. It was breath taking playing and as soon as she noticed people start to gather she turned to me and with a twinkle in her eyes said a very quick " thanks" and dashed off.
There were so many more moments during the day with people from all over the world; France, Germany, Brazil, Washington State, California, Brooklyn, New Zealand, each with their own story to tell in their own way. As I drove back to Glimmerglass my mind wandered back through the day, the experiences, the bravery and the shear joy that I had experienced for hours with complete strangers.This is engagement, this is community and the art is doing all the work, we are simply and gratefully along for the ride.
