17—20 November 2022

It is odd that the piano – a complicated machine comprised of many small parts – should have been so ubiquitous a part of the furniture in the middle-class home.

Early Melbourne boasted the greatest number of pianos per capita of any world city.

It has also been a ubiquitous part of our cultural furniture, and the laboratory of many composers’ ideas.

For pianists, the keyboard’s black and white topography becomes a visual template of music itself: this is what harmony looks like, and what it feels like. It also becomes a prosthetic extension of the body, another way to sing and speak and know ourselves.

In PianoLab, Recitals Australia hopes to match the technology of these wondrous machines – largely unchanged since the 19th century – to the modern technology of the Lab, an immersive multimedia space in Light Square in the heart of Adelaide.

Pianists from the Elder Conservatorium Piano School join pianistic luminaries from around Australia, such as Paavali Jumppanen and Paul Grabowsky, along with emerging artists and amateur pianists, for a series of unique events that mash up the genres of classical, jazz and contemporary music.

For tickets and more information, visit the website.