‘Play Me, I’m Yours’ was first commissioned by Fierce Earth of Birmingham, UK, in 2008. Over 3 weeks it was estimated that over 140,000 people across Birmingham played with or listened to music from the pianos.

‘The idea for Play Me, I’m Yours came from visiting my local launderette. I saw the same people there each weekend and yet no one talked to one another. I suddenly realised that within a city, there must be hundreds of these invisible communities, regularly spending time with one another in silence. Placing a piano into the space was my solution to this problem, acting as a catalyst for conversation and changing the dynamics of a space.’
Luke Jerram, creator of ‘Play Me, I’m Yours’

News of the project spread internationally and the artwork caught the attention of the Sydney Festival in 2009.  Since then, the artwork has continued to tour the world, successfully acting as a high profile launch event for numerous major international festivals, including City of London Festival, San Jose Biennal, Bath International Music Festival, 2010 European Capital of Culture Celebrations and Barcelona’s Maria Canals International Music Competition.

Disrupting people’s negotiation of their city, the pianos are aimed to provoke people into engaging, activating and claiming ownership of their urban landscape.  Like Facebook, the pianos, together with this website, provide an interconnected resource for the public to express themselves.

The pianos have also levered many hidden musicians from out of the woodwork. It has become apparent that there are hundreds of pianists out there who don’t have access to a piano to play. ‘Play Me I’m Yours’ provides access to musical instruments and provides musicians an opportunity to share their creativity by performing in public.

‘Play Me, I’m Yours’ created a beautiful and worthy moment for our city by bringing the Street Pianos to our city’s parks and public spaces. It’s things like this that make me extra proud to be a New Yorker, and the endless possibilities represented in these streets.”
Alicia Keys on the New York Street Pianos

Each city has a website made for the public to upload and share their films, photos and stories of their interaction with the pianos. The websites act as one of the legacies for the project, providing a means for the public to communicate with one another on a local level, but also within an international arena, with people from all over the world. They help to connect the different communities, provide a map to piano locations and can be used to promote events. All content has been created and uploaded by the public.

Launched in New York by Mayor Bloomberg with over 60 pianos across all 5 boroughs of the city, ‘Play Me, I’m Yours’ has exceptional reach as a major piece of public art. See press coverage. The story of the artwork has been told by journalists around the globe and we are in discussion with over 80 cities to present the work in 2011.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re a world-class virtuoso like Beethoven or a guy who took one year of lessons like Bloomberg, just sit down and let your fingers do the talking,”
Mayor Bloomberg

If you would like to discuss commissioning the work please contact us. We look forward to speaking with you and bringing ‘Play Me, I’m Yours’ to your city!