By Margaret Teague
Staff Writer
Smoking a cigarette and wearing cool black glasses, a man in his early twenties nonchalantly approaches the small, wooden piano. Wearing a black blazer and straight-legged pants, he has a mysterious confidence about him. The man starts to play jazz music that is soothing and cool, and with the cigarette smoke drifting from his mouth to the street, it is the perfect scene on a fall night. Jazz lingers in the air.
He plays a piano outside of Berklee Books and Music on 1090 Bolyston St. Berklee students linger close by while sitting at tables and chatting with friends. Though no one stops mid-conversation at the sound of the jazz, everyone listens. After five minutes of leisurely playing, he quickens the melody and changes the beat.
Completely in tune with his own playing and with the cigarette still in his mouth, he nods his head and begins to whistle. It seems that nothing is strong enough to distract him.
Passersby glance in his direction as he plays the piano, which is painted with grass and flowers.
“It’s always great to have someone play piano. I’m surprised at the number of people who play it. It adds something to the city and brings people together through music,” said Carmen Chan about the piano in front of Berklee Books and Music.
“My friend and I were just talking about what the locations of the pianos are. There’s a bunch of them, and I don’t know where the heck they are!” said Shannon Haglund, a Berklee student specializing in piano.
Seventy-five pianos were recently brought to Boston by a project put together by Celebrity Series of Boston. Each piano reads, “Play Me, I’m Yours.”
“Play Me, I’m Yours” was created by British artist Luke Jerram. The project has toured internationally since 2008. According to the streetpianos.com website, more than 1,000 pianos have been temporarily put into 37 cities worldwide and have reached over three million people. In 2010 Jerram was voted ABC “Person of the Week” for this work.
“Instead of asking the public to go into a concert hall, spend thirty dollars on a ticket to go and see some fancy performance, we’re delivering a creative opportunity to their neighborhoods, so that they can be the center stage. They can be the performers. They can express themselves and share their creativity with one another on the street,” said Luke Jerram while interviewed in front of Government Center. The interview was found on streetpianos.com.
Where do all of these pianos come from? Pianos for Boston were donated from Boston homes, craigslist, and pianoadoption.com.
For roughly one month at a time, pianos are put into city parks, shelters, train stations, and other places for public use. Anybody can play for any amount of time.
Boston has the luxury of hosting these pianos until Oct. 14th. Boston was also the city where the 1,000th piano was placed since the start of the public arts program. Each piano comes with a tarp for protection against the elements. The pianos that are still in good condition will be donated to charities.
On streetpianos.com, you can see where each piano is located. Under “Boston” are the following categories: Downtown, Greenway/Waterfront, Back Bay, Fenway/Kenmore, South End, Neighborhoods of Boston, Cambridge/Somerville. Under each category is the specific address of each piano.
“Seventy-five pianos have been installed across the city of Boston….This is so important because I’ve always believed that the arts don’t just belong in the museum downtown. They belong in the neighborhoods of Boston,” said Mayor Menino.
In 2013, pianos visited Munich, Germany; Geneva, Switzerland; Paris; and Boston. This month the project will travel to Santiago, Chile. In 2012, Los Angeles, London, Toronto, Australia, and China all were enlightened by the brief but impactful presence of pianos.
In Boston, not everyone is in favor of the newly scattered pianos.
“It’s annoying, but maybe that’s because I don’t play piano, and I’m jealous,” said Ben Kersh.
“Do they clean them regularly? I’d use Kleenex wipes before,” joked Kaleb Jacks, a Berklee student.
Whether these brightly painted pianos have caused sweet inspiration or slight irritation, they have been noticed and, for the majority of Bostonians, enjoyed.
