Come out and play! The Piano Experiment

Local pianist Ed Merrilees finds an audience
Photo by: Sean Lara, OC Register

Have you noticed anything different at Main Beach lately? A hand painted piano has been placed at the south end of Main Beach Park! Our own local No Square Theatre has generously donated the piano and have teamed up with Pacific Symphony to invite the public to play their hearts out during "OC Can You Play?", January 16th - February 6th. A total of 20 pianos have been placed throughout Orange County for three music filled weeks.

Lisa Zieper of Moorpark, CA plays for an ardent listener
Photo by: Mark Rightmire, OC Register

"OC Can You Play?" will be offering a variety of contests too. One of the contests is a "Piano Scavenger Hunt", the fun of this one is, if you visit all 20 pianos, you can have a chance at winning season tickets to the Pacific Symphony! Or visit three pianos for 20 percent off a ticket purchase. Then there's "Best Video" for those who enjoy the art of filming. If you capture a performance on video, you can win tickets to an upcoming concert. Keep up with all of the contests, scheduled performances and activities at www.pacificsymphony.org/OCCanUPlay where you can also see what is scheduled at the No Square piano, or sign up to play at a particular time.

Nynke Van Derwerf, left, alon with Femke Van Derwerf, of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and Cayden Muellerieile of Irvine drop their toys to tickle the ivories.
Photo by: Mark Rightmire, OC Register

If your more of a fly by the seat of your pants kind of person, just show up and play! From students to musicians, all are encouraged to sit down and play. Shoot a video or take a picture and share it on YouTube and the Symphony's Facebook page.

What's the point of this experiment? Just to come on out to play!