Make Music in Washington Square Park | Chicago

As part of “Make Music Chicago” celebration, Julie Lovison, Director of The Lake Shore Music Studio and a few of her students performed at Washington Square Park in the Gold Coast area near Rush Street (actually just off Walton).

The piano was provided by the “Pianos in the Park” project.

Pianos have been placed in ten parks around the city providing venues for scheduled and impromptu performances through August 1st.

This particular event was sponsored by The Newberry Library and the Washington Square Park Advisory Council as part of a global endeavor to celebrate music worldwide.

Based on the French Fête de la Musique, the largest world-wide single-day music festival connecting Chicago with over 60 other U.S. cities and 800 cities in 120 countries around the world also celebrating this day of music.

Part of being a good musician is not simply playing by rote. If you have merely memorized a piece you will be easily thrown-off by the unexpected. This includes an environment in which a jack-hammer might be pounding nearby or the piano has a sticky key or two.

If you can deal with that then a routine performance will be much less intimidating.

Piano teacher Julie Lovison teaches her students that regardless of the quality of the instrument that you are presented with, you should learn to do your best to adapt and give a seemless performance (within reason of course).

If you understand the piano’s limitations and how the music is composed you can improvise as necessary, and unless your audience is familiar with the piece note-by-note they will in most cases never be the wiser.

The goal is to try not to interrupt the listener’s overall experience.

These pianos in the park are in various conditions but for the most part are useable in capable hands with some deft adjustment to the music and the player’s technique.

The Lake Shore Music Studio offers piano lessons for all ages at their Sandburg Village location.