Event

A Brief History of the Piano

The Performance Art Institute hosts "A Brief History of the Piano", a tribute to Igor Stravinsky, John Coltrane, John Cage, and Sun Rah, by Mauro Ffortissimo and Robert Soper.

Sundays at 4:00pm from September 16th through October 7th
$15 advanced tickets (click here)
$20 tickets will be available at the door

Mauro Ffortissimo has literally "played" the inside of pianos for 25 years. People who haven't heard it before frequently ask, "What is it? ", "How did you come across this instrument? ", and "Did you invent it?" Actually, Ffortissimo "plays" an upright piano from which the keyboard and "action" (the hammer mechanism) are removed: thus opened and liberated from its original construction. Hence, the musical aspirations behind Ffortissimo's efforts are revolutionary: since the keys are removed the audience is freed from the 12 tone scale of the western mind.

"Piano, " Ffortissimo says, "is the most sophisticated instrument; similar in sound range to the African cora, the Persian dulcimer or Indian saranghi. As Plato put it, 'When modes of music change, societies change along.'"

Mauro Ffortissimo along with fellow musician Robert Soper will use their liberated pianos to enlighten and enchant audiences at PAI. They will be accompanied by guest musicians: Chus Alonso, Kash Killon, Gearry Basserman, Joe Suecz, Sandy Poindexter, Allison Lovejoy, Lisa Lamantia, Ralph Carney, India Cooke, Viviana Guzman, Tregar Otton, Ander Meyer, and Linda Bouchard.