Piano. Push. Play.

“Please Play Me!” a blue upright piano exclaims in white hand-painted letters with Ps that look like the flags of musical notes. This piano is parked outside, on a city block, for anyone passing by to play. Certainly not the kind of instrument one simply carries around to busk or perform, this is not your typical concert hall. It’s a pop-up piano concert. And that’s one of classically trained pianist and founder Megan McGeorge’s primary goals—to rescue old pianos, put them out on the sidewalk, allow public access to impromptu music-making and listening, and offer a creative space for practice, playing, listening and conversation, day and night. Later, these salvaged pianos are placed in community centers and schools. Local partners include several piano stores as well as the Portland Art Museum, many of which have housed, tuned and moved some of the collected pianos while the latter even has one available for public players every day during museum hours. From the original installation at SW 13th Avenue and Burnside, other subsequent locations where pianos were found for a spell mark off identifiable Portland landmarks and gathering places: the Rose Festival Foundation patio (next to the Salmon Street Springs fountain) and the Urban Center Plaza on the Portland State University campus. There was a time when pianos were a staple in the living rooms of many homes, so Piano. Push. Play. had to put one in Portland’s living room—Pioneer Courthouse Square—as well. Andrea Janda, Nov. 2014