46 stories & pictures about “Wynyard Station Bus Stops”

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1. Alison   // Jan 14, 2009 at 9:39 pm
   Here's one of us playing, and you can see our gift if you look hard :)
   

   
2. Alison   // Jan 14, 2009 at 9:37 pm
   My friends Devina, Jessica and I went into the city today with the sole purpose of tracking down some of these pianos. We managed to play 6 out of 8 pianos we aimed for, (QVB, Circular Quay, Opera House, Phillip Park, Market City and Wynard Station and missed out on Oxford Square and Sydney Hospital) moving through the sweltering heat mainly on foot until we gave in and retired our small change to public transport. We had such a ball! And who knew there were so many talented pianists of so much variety in one tiny area? I don't think I saw a single person who found themselves seated on a piano stool today that didn't impress me. From Waltzing Matilda plus collective vocals on the once-pionola in front of the QVB to an unknown piano number full of melancholy from a lone businessman on his lunch break in Phillip Park, who swiftly moved on, looking for no recognition.
   
   Devina and I have been playing together for about a year now, and we both play piano and sing and swap duty over the keys regularly depending on which song is asked of us. However, pianos are very expensive and very impractical things to transport, and we find it hard to play together, being high school students. We often hide in the corners of Allan's Music shop on Pitt Street to practice, but we know we aren't going to buy anything, and so do the shop attendants, and we never stay very long. So the abundance of these instruments on the street was like a dream come true for us! It could not have answered our prayers any better, it really couldn't. So, Wynard being the last piano we played for the great day we had, (and don't forget Jessica, the photographer and artist of the group!) we thought we would leave a token of our gratitude on the wooden panel on the right, underneath the ivories. Honestly, it was the least we could do. Thankyou so much!
   
   From Alison, 15, Toongabbie (a.studans@gmail.com)
   

   
3. Gillian Thompson   // Jan 14, 2009 at 4:32 pm
   To continue from Kelly Dustin’s picture upload... it is amazing how this concept opens up avenues of communication. In the short few minutes we were there, putting up the music and sticking the notes, many people stopped and stared (from a safe distance) and a few stopped for a chat and to ask questions.
   
   The novelty and incongruity of a piano by a bus stop unleashed commuter conversation in a way I haven’t seen before. Music truly is a universal language.
   
   What I found more amusing than random stranger conversation was watching those people who seemed to think it is a trick of some kind, as if the lid over the keys will snap shut if they so much as glance at it sideways!
   
   But best of all was noticing those folk waiting for us to bugger off so they could have a go in private (relatively speaking!)
4. Kelly Dustin & Gillian Thompson   // Jan 14, 2009 at 4:04 pm
   A number of people I know learned to play the piano as children/teenagers, and cite their resons for not going to play it as "I don't remember how to play anything" or "I don't know how to read music", so we decided to stick the sheet music to Fur Elise, and Ode to Joy, onto the music stand - the latter being annotated with the letters beside each note, and we have also labelled the names of each note on the keys of the middle octave.
   
   Hopefully this will inspire a few more people to sit down and tinker with the keys while they are waiting for their bus.
   

   
5. Nerida Pearson   // Jan 13, 2009 at 9:31 pm
   My daughter Tara and her friends (who are all very musical) went into the city for her birthday on Monday and set out to play as many pianos as possible. They played 4 pianos - Wynyard station, Australian Square, MCA at Circular Quay and Cook Phillip Park. We also caught a ferry to and from Manly hoping to play but neither ferry had the piano on board.
   
   They had a great time, Glen Hopper (the boy playing is very talented) and the girls sang along - the repetoire included Billy Joel's Piano Man, Drops of Jupiter, Let it Be - it was a fantastic day! I will post a YouTube link soon.
   Thank you Sydney Festival 2009!
   

   

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