Date: June 16, 2013
Event: Sing for Hope Pianos at Lincoln Center
Cost: FREE
Summary: 88 uniquely and artistically decorated pianos staged in the plaza at Lincoln Center with the public invited to come to enjoy them and play them. A feast for the eyes and the ears!
For a couple of years now I’ve heard of this "Sing for Hope" pop-up Pianos (http://singforhope.org/). Essentially, 88 differently painted pianos scattered throughout NYC, left in parks or other public places for people -- anyone, everyone -- to play. The theme: art for all. I had always meant to try to go see some in their native locations but never quite got to it. So I was thrilled to hear they were doing a closing ceremony of sorts by gathering all 88 pianos at Lincoln Center for all day Sunday. After a morning bike ride and a quick breakfast, I grabbed my camera and headed to Lincoln Center.
And it was even better than I had expected. So much better. There are times when I just want to throw my arms out and hug an event and laugh in pure enjoyment. This was one of those times. I'm not sure I can fully explain why but it just was. I had expected to fall in love with the pianos themselves, the colors and creativeness of each. But I hadn't expected the pure cacophony of sound -- people playing pianos located right next to each other but playing different music. Yet it wasn't noise, it wasn't dissonant, it was just so many different musical notes coming at you much like each piano was something different visually. So I loved the pianos and I loved the music. But I think what struck me the most, the thing that really made me want to hug the entire scene was the people. The different races, ages, gender, types of dress, types of style that each person had. It was a cross section of New York. Not of high society New York (which one might think when one thinks of 'piano playing at Lincoln Center') but of all of New York. Everyone coming together to just enjoy some music.
When I looked through all my pictures (I won't admit exactly how many I took), I would have expected that most would have been of the pianos. But no, the biggest block of pictures were of the people playing the pianos. The people, the players, they were what really captured my imagination.
Sadly, it is impossible to impart through pictures the audio aspect of the experience (even harder than imparting the taste and smells of the food festivals), but I hope the pictures at least tell a story you can understand....
Event: Sing for Hope Pianos at Lincoln Center
Cost: FREE
Summary: 88 uniquely and artistically decorated pianos staged in the plaza at Lincoln Center with the public invited to come to enjoy them and play them. A feast for the eyes and the ears!
For a couple of years now I’ve heard of this "Sing for Hope" pop-up Pianos (http://singforhope.org/). Essentially, 88 differently painted pianos scattered throughout NYC, left in parks or other public places for people -- anyone, everyone -- to play. The theme: art for all. I had always meant to try to go see some in their native locations but never quite got to it. So I was thrilled to hear they were doing a closing ceremony of sorts by gathering all 88 pianos at Lincoln Center for all day Sunday. After a morning bike ride and a quick breakfast, I grabbed my camera and headed to Lincoln Center.
And it was even better than I had expected. So much better. There are times when I just want to throw my arms out and hug an event and laugh in pure enjoyment. This was one of those times. I'm not sure I can fully explain why but it just was. I had expected to fall in love with the pianos themselves, the colors and creativeness of each. But I hadn't expected the pure cacophony of sound -- people playing pianos located right next to each other but playing different music. Yet it wasn't noise, it wasn't dissonant, it was just so many different musical notes coming at you much like each piano was something different visually. So I loved the pianos and I loved the music. But I think what struck me the most, the thing that really made me want to hug the entire scene was the people. The different races, ages, gender, types of dress, types of style that each person had. It was a cross section of New York. Not of high society New York (which one might think when one thinks of 'piano playing at Lincoln Center') but of all of New York. Everyone coming together to just enjoy some music.
When I looked through all my pictures (I won't admit exactly how many I took), I would have expected that most would have been of the pianos. But no, the biggest block of pictures were of the people playing the pianos. The people, the players, they were what really captured my imagination.
Sadly, it is impossible to impart through pictures the audio aspect of the experience (even harder than imparting the taste and smells of the food festivals), but I hope the pictures at least tell a story you can understand....
