Truth be told, at every moment, there’s something heart-wrenching taking place in some part of the world. We don’t always get to hear about them, but when we do, it reminds us just how difficult life can get. And sometimes, it reminds us to take a moment from our busy lives and realize how much we have to be grateful for.
Today we share three stories involving pianos that are not so much about the instruments as they are about the people playing them – or the people they were played for.
A song for Syrian refugees
The war in Syria has had a deadly impact on the lives of the thousands of people fleeing their home country to find safety and a sense of normal living as refugees. One of the most heart-wrenching moments that was captured for the world to see was when 24-year old Nour Alkhzam serenaded other refugees.
Nour was at the time waiting to be reunited with her husband and son after months of separation.
Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei dragged a white grand piano to a muddy refugee camp and gave a Syrian woman, who has not seen her husband or son in months, the chance to play for the first time in years.
As Ai and others held a plastic sheet over her head at the Idomeni camp on the Greece-Macedonia border, 24-year-old Nour Alkhzam began to play her beloved instrument for 20 poignant minutes.
‘This is our attempt to create an opportunity for this lady,’ Ai said at the end of her impromptu performance at the squalid encampment where as many as 12,000 are stranded. Via Daily Mail
Pianist’s tribute to France attack victims
What were you doing when the terrorist attacks in Paris occurred last year? Davide Martello was in a pub watching a football match between France and Germany when the explosions at the Stade de France began.
He immediately felt that he needed to do something to comfort and offer hope to his fellow countrymen. Within minutes, he had loaded his grand piano on a trailer and was making the 400-mile trip to Bataclan theatre. He played John Lennon’s Imagine in tribute to the victims.
The man who played John Lennon’s Imagine on a grand piano outside the Bataclan theatre has told the Guardian he felt it was his “duty” to pay tribute to the victims of the Paris attacks…
“I can’t bring people back but I can inspire them with music and when people are inspired they can do anything. That’s why I played Imagine.”
Martello described the scene as shocking and said there was blood on his piano from the previous night’s attack at the concert hall. “I got to the end of playing Imagine and just couldn’t carry on,” he said. “Even if I wanted to it was just too emotional.” Via The Guardian
Teen piano prodigy without hands
We all have our challenges, and it is stories like that of Alexey Romanov that remind us that we can overcome any challenge if we really put our mind to it. Alexey was born without hands, but always dreamed of playing his favorite instrument – the piano. What others would have considered impossible simply meant extra work for the young man. Born an orphan, Alexey had his first music lesson less than 3 years ago after his adoptive parents noticed his talent.
Two years ago, Alexei was adopted. His adoptive parents immediately noticed his creative side and bought him a synthesizer. Alexei’s music teacher, at a boarding school for children with disabilities in Kazan, Russia, helped him learn how to play music — teaching him melodies from movies like “Titanic.” Via Huffington Post
He gained international fame when a video of him performing River Flows in You went viral.
“During the concert with the orchestra I was shaking from the tension. I can’t even remember what was happening,” Alexei told Russia Beyond The Headlines. “But there was nothing I could do: I walked onto the stage, sat down and started playing. I felt my knees shaking. Then I realized that I was doing well — it’s as if the melody started flowing by itself. And so I calmed down.” Via Huffington Post
Featured Image: Image Credit
Happy 67th Birthday to piano man Billy Joel! pic.twitter.com/BtZ4uUgyWh
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) May 9, 2016
Watch HALESTORM’s LZZY HALE Perform ‘Dear Daughter’ On Piano At ATLANTIC Offices https://t.co/ggyfqLN3FI pic.twitter.com/TuU3EAZ43k
— BLABBERMOUTH.NET (@BLABBERMOUTHNET) April 30, 2016
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Johnny Carson Asked The Audience If Anyone Played Piano. This Guy Raised His Hand, And His Life Forever Changed
On December 19, 1985, David Tolley was just another guy in the Tonight Show studio audience when Johnny Carson said, “Horatio Gutierrez (a classical pianist) couldn’t come tonight because he accidentally shut his hand in a car door and didn’t want to chance playing the Tonight Show. Can anybody here play the piano?”
David volunteered; he played “Memory” (from the Cats musical). The next day, David got tons of phone calls – everything from playing on cruise ships to acting in movies. Via SunnySkyz
100-year-old piano teacher still giving lessons
MOSCOW MILLS, MO – When it comes to music, Moscow Mills, Missouri is much more Chesney than Tchaikovsky. Unless you happen to be in Olive Haffner’s neighborhood.
“Bach and Chopin are my favorites,” she told us.
Several days a week, inside her home is a concerto of piano lessons and life lessons.
“I said it’s like reading the Bible,” said Haffner. “Every time you read the Bible you find something new.”
And if experience really is the best teacher, then Ms. Hafnner may be the best piano teacher on earth. She’s been doing it for more than 80 years. Via KSDK
Homeless Man Thought He Was Just Sitting Down to Play the Piano But May Have Just Changed His Life
After receiving an insane amount of internet attention, things are looking up for homeless Florida man, Donald Gould.
Last week while playing on a public street piano, 51-year-old Gould caught the ear of passerby Aurore Henry, who posted a video of Gould’s rendition of Styx’s 1977 hit, “Come Sail Away” to Facebook. Via Lift Bump