Tuck Woodstock

Tuck Woodstock

Tuck Woodstock wrote and edited content for Travel Portland from 2014–2020. Read More

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decorated paint reads please play me at a metro stop as an orange street car passes behind decorated paint reads please play me at a metro stop as an orange street car passes behind
Credit: Diego Diaz

Piano Push Play Brings Music to the People

A local organization delivers dozens of pianos to Portland’s public spaces every summer.

Editor's Pick
1 min read
Tuck Woodstock

Tuck Woodstock

Tuck Woodstock wrote and edited content for Travel Portland from 2014–2020. Read More

Editor's Pick
This is a recurring event and we’re showing the details from its most recent past occurrence. We’ll update this page with future event info as soon as we get it. Please check back!
When
July 11–Aug. 31, 2024
Daily, Times vary
Where
Various Locations

“Free outdoor concert in Portland today!” On July 25, 2016, Weird Al Yankovic tweeted a photo of himself playing a bright purple piano (decorated with Prince and Bowie graphics, no less!) on a heavily trafficked corner of East Burnside Street.

The Grammy Award-winning artist is one of the thousands of folks who have taken advantage of Piano Push Play, a local initiative to fill Portland’s public spaces with dozens of the instruments every July and August. The results? On any given summer day in the Rose City, you’re likely to find a teen skateboarder playing “Für Elise” at a bus stop or a sweaty hiker wowing crowds with a Mozart sonata at the top of Mt. Tabor.

family at mount tabor park plays piano and looks at view with dogs
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Enjoy a recital with a view from the top of Mount Tabor every summer.
Credit: Ashley Anderson
person plays the piano outside
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Every summer during Piano Push Play, individually decorated pianos are placed in public places throughout Portland for anyone to play.
Credit: Catalina Gaitan
two smiling people gathered around a piano on a street sidewalk, while one person plays the piano
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Passerby enjoy an impromptu Piano Push Play concert on the East Burnside instrument.
Credit: Ashley Anderson

Founded by Megan McGeorge in 2012, Piano Push Play invites local artists to transform old, donated pianos into whimsical works of art. Each instrument has been given new life by an artist who has transformed it into a wonderfully unique creation before being transported to a temporary home in a local park, plaza or food cart pod. By distributing the pianos across the city, McGeorge hopes to give musicians of all ages and abilities a space to showcase their skills. After their time on the streets, the pianos are donated to schools and community centers to keep the music flowing all year.

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