Sing for Hope Pianos: Day 5

Hi there!  Today is Tuesday, June 18th, and at this rate, I may still be blogging about the pianos in July.  HA!  I'll try to speed things up.  No promises.  Let's dive into Day 5, shall we?

Last year, I really fell in love with cooking.  Took me long enough, I know!  Well, I decided to cook before heading out to play more pianos. I'd been meaning to make a vegan version of cream of broccoli for months now.  I also happened to have lots of kale in my fridge, so I added that, too.  It wasn't as "creamy" as I hoped it would be, but it had good flavor.  Next time, I need to add more cashew cream, which by the way, is super easy to make if you have a blender or Magic Bullet.  Don't be shy.  Try it!  I also made black bean & mushroom burger patties.  That was my first time adding mushrooms directly in the patties.  YUM.

A decent first attempt at cream of broccoli and kale soup.  

Why buy frozen black bean burgers when you can make delicious patties yourself?

Piano #15: Riverbank State Park. I've only ever been to this park to search for and play pianos, and I deem that a very good reason to visit. You have to walk down a hill to get there, and this year, to conserve energy, I totally took the bus back up the hill to continue my piano journey. Yes, I'm getting older. And wiser. ;)

The Cosmic Double Double Rainbow Dragon Piano. I really would have loved all keys to work (one F# was not), but it goes to show how much you depend on everything working together for harmonious results.

Piano #16: Montefiore Square Park. After a bus ride, I took the 1 train one stop from 145th to 137th.  Again, I could have walked, but I was all about conserving energy while carrying a backpack and traveling in the heat. If memory serves me correctly, a mother and daughter were at the piano when I arrived, and then a woman walking her dog (see picture below) played a little after them.  Then, I sat down to play one song, and I could feel a crowd grow around me.  That was fun.  They applauded when I finished.  I knew that one song at this piano was perfect and decided to continue my piano journey elsewhere.

"(Dont Look Just Listen)" Piano, as named/punctuated by the artist.

The faces on the piano reflect what it's like to listen to music with closed eyes.

Piano #17: Riverside Park - Trager Terrace. I thoroughly studied on Google Maps how to get to this piano's location. It's a beautiful place to listen and play! There are chairs and tables at the terrace where people can sit and listen to you, but the way the piano is positioned, you can feel as if you're the only one there if you want to, singing out to New Jersey... if you want to. I enjoyed listening to this man play a few pieces, and when he got up, he was aware that others wanted to play and I always appreciate that courtesy and try to extend that to others, especially when it comes to kids. A woman played a little bit after him, and then I played. I played two-thirds of my core trio before sitting back down in a chair, in case anyone else wanted to play.  I received applause when I got up.  More people had sat down to listen, which was nice!  A woman thanked me for playing and singing.  Since no one else went to the piano, I returned for one final song and then headed to the next location.

This man played pieces by Grieg, Wagner, and Tchaikovsky.

The best part about waiting to play until after the woman is that I was able to approach the man and ask him about one of the pieces he played. It sounded familiar, yet I didn't know it. It reminded me of The March of the Siamese Children from The King and I. The man gave me enough information about it so I could find it later. And now? I am obsessed with this YouTube video -- it was the first one I found when I searched for the piece, and I can't stop listening/watching. I listen more than watch, but if I happen to catch the flourish at the end, it makes me smile.


Piano #18: Central Park - Tennis Center. There always seems to be one piano that is difficult to find. The piano near the tennis center was this year's challenging find. I called my dad, who wasn't at his computer. I called my mom, who didn't pick up the phone (but I found out she was driving, so I'm glad she didn't pick up). I called my sister, and bingo! She helped me by looking at the map on the Sing for Hope website. It's a version of a Google Map, and the location where they pinned the piano wasn't 100% accurate. But I kept looking for the piano while talking to my sister, and when I finally found it, I was standing at the top of a hill.  I felt like Maria in The Sound of Music -- Julie Andrews in the movie version to be precise -- and wanted to sing. I was so happy!

Found you!

A couple kids were playing the piano when I arrived, so I sat down at the bench to rest and listen and wait. I was in no hurry. I knew it would be the final piano of the day. When it was my turn to play, I played two-thirds of my core trio of songs, and a woman sitting on a bench told me that she liked the music I was playing and singing. I'm not always good at accepting compliments, so on auto-pilot I said, "Oh, they're covers." But I've taken the time to reflect and appreciate what she was telling me. Maybe I don't write as much original music as I'd like, but I am glad that I can do justice to someone else's work. I finished with the final third of my core trio and then got up to let a couple and their dog experience the piano. They took pictures, and I took pictures. I couldn't resist! The man said he read about the pianos in the newspaper.

This picture ended up on Sing for Hope's Facebook page in their #ArtForDogs montage.

Recreating the view of spotting the piano from the hill.

This man brilliantly played jazz piano.  I stayed for his first piece and thanked him for playing.  He happened to see signs about the Sing for Hope Pianos and came across this one.

Stay tuned for Day 6...