Return in semitone for public pianos

As soon as installed, almost immediately removed. “Repeated” quarrels between citizens and the person in charge of the instrument got the better of the public piano that had brightened up the entrance to the Laurier métro station since the beginning of the summer. A situation that highlights the fragility of the program and the challenges of keeping pianos accessible and in good condition in the public square.

Valerie Simard
The Press

“This piano will remain closed for the rest of the season, due to repeated verbal attacks suffered by the people who were in charge of making it accessible to the population”, indicated the note posed by the borough of Plateau- Mont-Royal on the instrument on August 12th. A week later, he had been abducted.

The police were not called to the scene, but “there were insults and the use of inappropriate language violent enough to make the person who is responsible for opening and closing the piano feel bad” , says Michel Tanguay, communications officer for the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough.

It refers to “several incidents”, the most recent of which occurred on August 11. In a post left on the Pianos publics de Montréal Facebook page, a woman says she asked for the piano to be opened so she could play with a group of children. The person in charge, an employee of the Center Saint-Denis, would have refused because of a storm that occurred earlier. To protect them from the rain, the pianos remain closed when the precipitation forecast reaches 40%.

It is also to protect them from vandalism and to reduce noise pollution in the neighborhood that pianos are subject to opening hours, which vary from one piano to another, depending on the availability of the person in charge. responsible.

In the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough, as in many others, the daily opening and closing of pianos relies on volunteers; employees of community organizations, even merchants.

“It’s a volunteer because it takes someone who is available, explains Michel Tanguay. But he has other tasks and cannot stay next to the piano. »

A few days earlier, Simon Cloutier had had a disagreement with the person who came to close the Laurier metro station at 5 p.m., rather than at 5:30 p.m., as indicated on the borough’s website. Coming from Hochelaga by bike to play there, he refused to leave the premises. The tone rose, but he denies having verbally attacked the manager. He posted the video of the discussion on the Pianistes publics de Montréal Facebook group.

The decision of the Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough to install only one of the six pianos this summer that were made available to the population in 2019 testifies to the fragility of the system. The borough explains its decision by dissolving the organization responsible for managing five pianos, the Corporation d’animation des places publics. “We’re thinking of a way to make more pianos accessible next summer,” says Vincent Fortin, borough communications officer.

Disappointed pianists

Simon Cloutier signed on July 22 in The duty an open letter in which he denounces the poor quality of the pianos, their limited opening hours as well as their number, smaller than in 2019. Remember that for public health reasons, the pianos remained in the warehouse in 2020 and in 2021.

According to figures released by the City of Montreal, 19 public pianos were installed this year in ten boroughs. They are responsible for their pianos, often donated instruments, recovered by movers from Moventune and restored by the tuner Julien Leblond, the ideator of this project born in 2012. The City was not able to tell us how many pianos were in the different boroughs in 2019, but at a certain point, everyone took part, underlines Julien Leblond.

The presence of pianos in the public square is important for many amateur pianists who cannot own an acoustic piano at home. There are about sixty of them on the Facebook group Pianistes publics de Montréal. “In Outremont, I heard excellent pianists,” notes Simon Cloutier. It follows one after the other because the piano is worth it. »

For this trained cultural facilitator, public pianos participate in cultural democracy and should receive more consideration from elected officials.

Amateur pianist David Lessard also says he is disappointed with the quality of the pianos and the non-compliance with posted opening hours. “There’s often one or more notes that don’t work, often towards the center of the keyboard, and most pianos are out of tune. He believes that better management and greater funding would “elevate this project to the height of a city like Montreal.”

A tour of a few public pianos last Friday showed us that keys that don’t work are common. A piano that was supposed to be open at 9 a.m. was not open at 9:30 a.m. Two of the four pianos at Plateau-Mont-Royal had been removed. At the Jean-Talon market, the piano, broken by the rain and by vandals, remained closed for several days before being repaired on Monday.

It was not possible to know the overall budget allocated by each of the boroughs to public pianos. In the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough, this represents $5,560, essentially for inspection, tuning and repair services, informs Michel Tanguay.

The reality of public space

The challenges of keeping instruments kept outdoors in good condition are great. “I had pianos that caught fire, earth, glue,” says Julien Leblond.

Therefore, the pianos that are chosen are not high-end instruments, but often Canadian pianos accustomed to the conditions of Quebec.

Does he himself enjoy playing on public pianos? “It is clear that yes. »

Over the years, several Montreal artists have played on public pianos, including Rufus Wainwright who, on August 13, moved to the one installed on Place Kate-McGarrigle to perform his piece Beauty Mark. A performance noticed on social networks by his admirers, including these two visitors from Nova Scotia who met a few days later near the now famous piano.