Street piano
Encyclopedia
A street piano is a piano
placed in the street which passersby are encouraged to play. The best known example comes from the Play Me, I'm Yours project by artist Luke Jerram. The concept originated quite by accident in Sheffield
, England
.
In Sheffield
, The Street Piano was a piano
on the pavement on Sharrow
Vale Road. It was originally left outside temporarily because the owner could not get it up the steps into his new house. As a social experiment the owner and a friend then attached a sign inviting passersby to play the piano for free. This offer was taken up by a great many people and the piano became a part of the local community. It survived for over a year, including being stolen and subsequently replaced by a newer model (with several volunteers willing to provide a new one).
The piano became the center of a local campaign once the council decided it constituted an abandoned item, and the campaign to save it spread quickly to local news outlets, with several articles on Indymedia. As of July 2006 a spokesman said in an interview for the National BBC Radio 4
that the piano was no longer under threat of removal. However, it was eventually removed in 2008 because of weather damage.
Artist Luke Jerram installed street pianos in various cities. The project intended to challenge the prohibition of playing music in public places without special arrangement. It prompted members of the public to use the piano, regardless of skill
and popularity. Typically, a musician would have been stopped from playing outside the City of London
and Sing London festival.
, United Kingdom
, for the public to play. In just three weeks, 140,000 people across the city played, listened and connected with one another.
Jerram said "Questioning the rules and ownership of public space 'Play Me I'm yours' is a provocation, inviting the public to engage with, activate and take ownership of their urban environment."
. Luke Jerram reported that many of those who stopped at the pianos had never played a real piano or even seen one.
for the Sydney Festival
2009. A website was set up for the public to upload and share their films, photographs and stories of the pianos being played.
for members of the public to play. The painting on each piano was chosen to suit its location. The project was produced by Sing London and City of London Festival
at a cost of £14,000. A music license had to be obtained for the location of each piano.
in September 2009.
when twenty-three street pianos were located across the city in March 2010.
, brought sixty pianos to the center of commercial Manhattan
, Brooklyn
, Queens
, The Bronx
, and Staten Island
. The pianos were placed at strategic locations throughout the five boroughs. For the two-week duration of June 21 through July 5, 2010, the pianos featured formal and impromptu concerts by students, tourists, children, nannies, lawyers, doctors, merchants, and artists in an open festival of music involving all elements of New York's culturally diverse population.
to celebrate the 50th anniversary of WGUC
, the 40th anniversary of WVXU
and the 60th anniversary of WMUB
.
competition in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Despite the entry's popularity, it failed to make the final round, finishing in the Top 25.
, The Netherlands.
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
placed in the street which passersby are encouraged to play. The best known example comes from the Play Me, I'm Yours project by artist Luke Jerram. The concept originated quite by accident in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
The Street Piano in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, The Street Piano was a piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
on the pavement on Sharrow
Sharrow
For the village in North Yorkshire, see Sharow. For the shared lane roadway marking, see Shared lane marking.Sharrow is a district of Sheffield directly south west of Sheffield city centre....
Vale Road. It was originally left outside temporarily because the owner could not get it up the steps into his new house. As a social experiment the owner and a friend then attached a sign inviting passersby to play the piano for free. This offer was taken up by a great many people and the piano became a part of the local community. It survived for over a year, including being stolen and subsequently replaced by a newer model (with several volunteers willing to provide a new one).
The piano became the center of a local campaign once the council decided it constituted an abandoned item, and the campaign to save it spread quickly to local news outlets, with several articles on Indymedia. As of July 2006 a spokesman said in an interview for the National BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
that the piano was no longer under threat of removal. However, it was eventually removed in 2008 because of weather damage.
Play Me, I'm Yours
Skill
A skill is the learned capacity to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills...
and popularity. Typically, a musician would have been stopped from playing outside the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
and Sing London festival.
Birmingham
In 2007, Jerram installed 15 street pianos throughout BirminghamBirmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, for the public to play. In just three weeks, 140,000 people across the city played, listened and connected with one another.
Jerram said "Questioning the rules and ownership of public space 'Play Me I'm yours' is a provocation, inviting the public to engage with, activate and take ownership of their urban environment."
São Paulo
Thirteen pianos have been installed in São PauloSão Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
. Luke Jerram reported that many of those who stopped at the pianos had never played a real piano or even seen one.
Sydney
Thirty street pianos were set up across SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
for the Sydney Festival
Sydney Festival
Sydney Festival is Australia's largest and most attended annual cultural event running every January since it was first held in 1977. Its program features around 80 events including contemporary and classical music, dance, circus, drama, visual arts and artist talks...
2009. A website was set up for the public to upload and share their films, photographs and stories of the pianos being played.
London
In June and July, 2009, thirty Play Me, I'm Yours-painted pianos were installed across LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
for members of the public to play. The painting on each piano was chosen to suit its location. The project was produced by Sing London and City of London Festival
City of London Festival
The City of London Festival is an annual arts festival that takes place in the City of London, England, over two to three weeks in June and July. The Festival is strongly geared towards classical music, but also offers a programme that includes jazz, world music, opera, film screenings, lectures...
at a cost of £14,000. A music license had to be obtained for the location of each piano.
Bristol
The artwork was presented again with Fifteen street pianos being located in and around BristolBristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
in September 2009.
Barcelona
Play Me, I'm Yours arrived in BarcelonaBarcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
when twenty-three street pianos were located across the city in March 2010.
New York
Play Me, I'm Yours, presented in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, brought sixty pianos to the center of commercial Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, Queens
Queens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
, The Bronx
The Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
, and Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
. The pianos were placed at strategic locations throughout the five boroughs. For the two-week duration of June 21 through July 5, 2010, the pianos featured formal and impromptu concerts by students, tourists, children, nannies, lawyers, doctors, merchants, and artists in an open festival of music involving all elements of New York's culturally diverse population.
Cincinnati
Play Me, I'm Yours brought 35 pianos to Greater Cincinnati starting on August 9, 2010 with a kickoff event at Fountain Square, downtown. The pianos will be donated to arts centers and children in need after the project ends on September 17. The project was brought to Cincinnati by Cincinnati Public RadioCincinnati Public Radio Inc.
Cincinnati Public Radio, Inc. is the broadcast license holder for WGUC and WVXU , two FM radio stations serving the Greater Cincinnati area with classical music, news, information, and entertainment programming...
to celebrate the 50th anniversary of WGUC
WGUC
WGUC is a public radio station serving Cincinnati, Ohio. It is owned by Cincinnati Public Radio. It broadcasts at 90.9 FM and features classical music. WGUC also has HD Radio capability and broadcasts jazz on WGUC-2...
, the 40th anniversary of WVXU
WVXU
WVXU is a public radio station located in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is owned by Cincinnati Public Radio, which also operates station WGUC and WMUB. It broadcasts at 91.7 FM and airs public radio news/talk syndicated programming from National Public Radio, American Public Media and Public Radio...
and the 60th anniversary of WMUB
WMUB
WMUB is a public radio station licensed to Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio. It produced local programming for 59 years until March 1, 2009 when it became a part of Cincinnati Public Radio. The station serves Southwest Ohio and Southeast Indiana. WMUB started as a student-operated station the...
.
Grand Rapids
Mr. Jerram also entered Play Me I'm Yours in the 2010 ArtprizeArtPrize
ArtPrize is an international art competition held in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The first exhibition took place between September 23 and October 10, 2009, and the 2010 exhibition was open from September 22 until October 10...
competition in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Despite the entry's popularity, it failed to make the final round, finishing in the Top 25.
Tilburg
The largest "Play Me, I'm Yours" project, with 101 pianos, took place September 11 through September 18, 2011, as part of the Incubate festival in TilburgTilburg
Tilburg is a landlocked municipality and a city in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of Noord-Brabant.Tilburg municipality also includes the villages of Berkel-Enschot and Udenhout....
, The Netherlands.