(Boston) In celebration of the 75th season, the Celebrity Series of Boston will partner with British artist Luke Jerram to bring his public piano installation, Play Me I’m Yours to Boston from Friday, September 27 to Monday, October 14, 2013. Celebrity Series will install 75 pianos throughout the Boston and Cambridge area to commemorate the anniversary season, bearing the simple instruction, “Play Me, I’m Yours.” Located in public spaces throughout Boston and Cambridge, the pianos are available for any member of the public to play and enjoy.
Dozens of local partner organizations such as the City of Boston, the Rose Kennedy Greenway, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Arts Academy, Harvard Office of the Arts and the Prudential Center will host pianos for the public to enjoy. A wide range of local artists and community-based organizations will decorate the pianos, and the Celebrity Series will schedule several solo or ensemble performances.
Reaching over two million people worldwide, more than 700 pianos have now been installed in cities across the globe, from New York to Sydney.
“I’m thrilled to work with the City of Boston and our partner organizations to bring this public event to life,” said Gary Dunning, Celebrity Series President and Executive Director. “Bringing music to Boston is the core mission of the Celebrity Series, and we thank the Mayor and his offices for their support of Play Me, I’m Yours.”
“I want to congratulate Celebrity Series of Boston on 75 years of bringing the world’s greatest performing artists to our city,” Mayor Thomas M. Menino said. “The public piano festival, Play Me I’m Yours, will give residents and visitors a chance to make music in the streets of Boston through this exciting public art installation.”
There are still opportunities to donate, host, play or keep a festival piano. To learn more about Play Me I’m Yours, visit celebrityseries.org or streetpianosboston.com. Exact locations and a map of the pianos will be announced by mid-September and the public is encouraged to upload and share video clips, photos and comments.
Sponsored by Jann E. Leeming & Arthur D. Little and Eleanor & Frank Pao.
COMMUNITY PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS (as of August 12, 2013)
The City of Boston – Mayor’s Office, Berklee College of Music, Biederman Redevelopment Ventures, Boston Arts Academy, Boston Center for the Arts, Boston Children’s Museum, Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center, Boston Harbor Association, Boston Housing Authority Choice Neighborhood Initiative, Boston National Park Service, Boston Public Schools, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston University, Boys and Girls Club, Burke High School, Cambridge Arts Council, Downtown Boston Business Improvement District, East Boston High School, Emerald Necklace Conservancy, The Esplanade Association, FastFrame, The Fallon Company at the Fan Pier, Fenway Garden Society, Franklin Park Zoo, The Freedom Trail Foundation, Friends of Copley Square, Friends of Post Office Square, From the Top, Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School, Harvard Office of the Arts, The Hawthorne, Huntington Theatre, Hurley K-8 School, Isabelle Stewart Gardner Museum, Josiah Elementary Quincy School, Longy School of Music, Mary Baker Eddy Library, Mass College of Art and Design, Mass General Hospital, Moreland Street Neighbors, More Than Words Youth, Murphy K-8 School, Museum of Fine Arts, National Development, Nave Gallery, New England Conservatory, New England School of Art and Design at Suffolk, North Bennet Street School, North End Music & Performing Arts Center, Old North Church, Opus Affair, Paul Revere House, Prudential Center, Rose Kennedy Greenway, Roslindale Village Main Street, Roslindale Public Library, Somerville Arts Council, Spaulding Rehabilitation Network, The Strand Theatre, Sumner Elementary School, Friends of Titus Sparrow Park, USS Constitution Museum, Villa Victoria Center for the Arts and Young Audiences of Massachusetts.
SPECIAL PLAY ME I’M YOURS EVENTS:
Boston Arts Festival: August 31 and Sept. 1, 12-6pm
A decorated piano will be featured at the City of Boston Arts Festival.
Event webpage: http://www.cityofboston.gov/arts/arts_festival.asp
Kickoff Party
The 75th Season Kickoff Party to celebrate Street Pianos Boston takes place on Saturday, October 5, 2013 at the Galleria at 10 St. James Avenue with an evening of food, drinks, and celebration, in partnership with Opus Affair and sponsored by Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse.
ABOUT CELEBRITY SERIES OF BOSTON
Celebrity Series of Boston was founded in 1938 by pianist and impresario Aaron Richmond. Over the course of its 75-year history, Celebrity Series has presented an array of the world’s greatest performing artists, including Sergei Rachmaninoff, Arturo Toscanini, Ignace Paderewski, Artur Rubenstein, Vladimir Horowitz, Glenn Gould, Fritz Kreisler, Jascha Heifetz, Isaac Stern, Andrés Segovia, Kirsten Flagstad, Marian Anderson, Luciano Pavarotti, Béla Bartók, Igor Stravinsky, Martha Graham, Ballet Russe De Monte Carlo, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Mstislav Rostropovich, and the New York City Opera Company.
The Celebrity Series has been bringing the very best performers–from orchestras and chamber ensembles, vocal and piano music, to dance companies, jazz, and more–to Boston’s major concert halls for 75 years. The Celebrity Series of Boston believes in the power of excellence and innovation in the performing arts to enrich life experiences, transform lives and build better communities. Through its education initiatives, the Celebrity Series seeks to build a community of Greater Boston where the performing arts are a valued, lifelong, shared experience–on stages, in schools, at home– everywhere. For more information on Celebrity Series of Boston, call (617) 482-2595 or visit us online at www.celebrityseries.org.
The Celebrity Series of Boston, Inc. receives generous support from Amy and Joshua Boger; Eleanor and Frank Pao; Donna and Mike Egan; Susanne Marcus Collins Foundation; The Little Family Foundation; Tufts Health Plan; Foley & Lardner LLP; The John S. and Cynthia Reed Foundation; First Republic Bank; The Peabody Foundation; Charlesbank Capital Partners; PTC, The D.L. Saunders Real Estate Corp; Massachusetts Cultural Council; New England Foundation for the Arts.