Piano. Push. Play.

Wonderful event tonight. How about this idea: rescue old pianos from attics, warehouses, and basements. Hire artists to decorate the pianos. Then put them out on sidewalks and in parks for the summer so people can play them to enrich their own and other people’s lives. As summer draws to a close, donate the highly-decorated pianos to shelters for battered women or houseless people, to schools and childcare centers. Everybody wins.

This year there are twelve pianos, and tonight was the eleventh annual Opening Night for the program, with all 12 pianos on display and some amazing musicians to perform on them, free, in the open air at sunset while the breeze blows. Darrell Grant closed the show spectacularly. There's a 19-minute Youtube about Grant and his genius, but you get a good sense of him if you just watch the first 3 minutes. He lives here and teaches at Portland State University. It was an thrill to see him in person. Evan went for the first time. Sue joined us, and then my photographer friend Au and his wife Mary. Can’t get much better.

My blip is a little girl who (coincidentally, I think) was wearing the same color as the piano she was playing. In extras you can see the set up, Evan playing a piano decorated with Legos, and (after the concert) meeting Bella and their mom for the messiest dessert in the world.