Always looking for that next opportunity to experience life
in New York City I happened across Sing for Hope, which unites the people of
the city through Music and Art by placing 88 decorated pianos across Manhattan, The Bronx, Staten
Island, Queens, and Brooklyn. 88 was the number of pianos in deference to the
number of keys on the instrument.
From June 1 to the 16th these pianos are out and
I hope to play all of them. There is a
map on Sing for Hope’s website so it is not a scavenger hunt, but it does take
some doing to find each piano.
The first piano I played was on Wednesday, June 5, in Little
Red Square, a park at the corner of 6th Avenue/Avenue of the
Americas and Bleecker Street. An upright
painted by Michael Scoggins in a multi-colored jigsaw puzzle. Sitting down to play was a bit nerve wracking
at first, but then I realized people seemed to enjoy it so I settled in and
played Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out and Down in the Valley. My reason to play is to sing and I sang
timidly as I played so I could concentrate on the keys.
It was okay.
After the second song the Little Red Schoolhouse let out
effectively ending my first session. It
is hard to compete with forty 6 year olds and a free piano.
The idea to find each piano came after I played here. Since I did not take a photo this time I circled back on Saturday, June 8 to play again and take the photo. I had played a few times in the interim so sang out and played with vigor; I actually had people up and dancing and they stayed for both songs!
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