They have popped up in cities like New York, Barcelona and Toronto, and now music aficionados in Vancouver will have three free, street pianos to enjoy in locations around the city.
The pianos have been installed on the False Creek Seawall near the Creekside Community Center in the Olympic Village, at Spyglass Dock by the Cambie Bridge and at St.George Rainway in Robson Park.
The project was launched two days ago by students behind the Keys to the Streets project, a collaboration between six Lower Mainland post-secondary schools and the city of Vancouver.
“The pianos were donated either by personal networks, or over Craigslist,” says GP Mendoza, an SFU graduate and project leader, “the owners are either doing renovations or moving out, and they did not want to keep their pianos. They would have otherwise thrown them into the dump, and we said we would save them and re-purpose them into something enjoyable.”
While the concept of having pianos in public spaces throughout the city is not new, it has never been done in Vancouver before.
Mendoza says they hope people won’t pass by the pianos, and will give it a try even if they have never played the piano before.
“We want you to explore your musical creativity. It is our biggest goal. If you walk by a piano, we want you to try it out and play the keys, and enjoy the novelty of just having the piano in a public space.”
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Mendoza says the response has been mostly positive so far, although some people have raised concerns about weather proofing and noise levels.
That is why they are asking everyone to help keep pianos in good shape and slip on the rain cover in case of bad weather.
Mendoza says the pianos are not incredibly loud, but are loud enough to be able to enjoy them in close proximity. But some of the pianos are located close to residential areas, so they are asking people to be courteous and not bang on the keys loudly.
The pianos will be available for the public to enjoy until August 24, after which Mendoza says they will be donated to community centers for indoor use, and may even make a comeback next year.
“We would love to bring even more pianos back next year,” says Mendoza.
To check out the three locations, see the interactive map.
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