How is it that the summer is almost over already? We hope that everyone still in school is getting excited for the new year, and settling well into your classes if you’ve already started!
This month, I wanted to highlight a very special event happening next month: Flower Piano! For the 10th(!) year in a row, over a dozen grand pianos will be placed in the San Francisco Botanical Garden for what is possibly one of the world’s only interactive music festivals. From September 12 - September 21, a wide variety of talented performers (including some of our very own students and teachers!) will fill the gardens with music from all ages and places and genres - from opera to jazz to original pieces!
On September 13, from 2:00 - 3:00pm, Plumrose Piano Studio will be highlighting performances from our teachers and students in the Redwood Grove. Everyone has been working very hard on their pieces, and even if you can only come for a moment, that moment will have been well spent. September 12 at 3:00pm, our very own Director Susie Fong, and Assistant Director Abbygayle Baker will be performing Four-Hand Piano program, featuring duets on one piano that requires teamwork and dedication to master!
Flower Piano was started by Sunset Piano, a project put together by Mauro Ffortissimo and Dean Mermell. In their very own words, Sunset Piano is “based on placing extremely heavy musical instruments in unexpected places”. By bringing pianos out of the concert halls and into the open (while keeping them well maintained and tuned, of course), they aim to foster community and bring together diverse groups of people by bringing musical experiences to unexpected places.
Music is something that ties humanity together, and has done so throughout so much of history. When the pianos at Flower Piano are not scheduled for a specific player, they are available for anyone to sit down and play, whether they’ve studied for decades or never even touched a piano before. Flower Piano is free with general admission to the San Francisco Botanical Gardens (which is free for San Francisco residents!), and advanced tickets are recommended if there is a particular day you wish to attend (cough September 12 and 13 cough). You can see the schedule and purchase tickets at the Gardens of Golden Gate Park website.