A piano designed by Jiya Chauhan with inspiration drawn from “The Sound of Music”. (Photo courtesy Town of Danville)
Two Danville students were selected to paint a community piano depicting their favorite play, book, musical or song. The finished works are currently on display outside of the Danville Community Center and the Veterans Memorial Building.
Piano inspiration drawn from the “Hamilton” musical by Emmeline Millington. (Photo courtesy Town of Danville)
Pedestrians and visitors are invited to stop by the pianos to admire the artwork and sit down to play music on the keys at any time of the day. The pianos are naturally inviting for people to stop and look at them, as most don’t hesitate to sit down and start playing, according to Danville performing arts coordinator John Dunn.
“The pianos bring an interactivity for passersby and allow them to express themselves freely, while providing joy and music to the nearby community,” Dunn told DanvilleSanRamon. “We hope the pianos allow local patrons to take a break in their day to escape within the keys of the piano.”
At the Danville Community Center, a piano was designed by student artist Jiya Chauhan based on the “Do-Re-Mi” song from “The Sound of Music”, which was inspired by Maria Augusta Von Trapp’s book “The Story of the Trapp Family Singers.” The back of the piano features a silhouette of Von Trapp, as well as decorations filled with flowers and musical notes around the piano to represent a harmonious life.
At the Veterans Memorial Building, student artist Emmeline Millington was inspired by the musical “Hamilton”. The pages painted on the piano consist of different lyrics and quotes from Millington’s favorite characters in the musical, finished off with a silhouette of Hamilton’s iconic star depicted on the back of the piano.
