Godsbanen, photo by 3xn.dk

MY URBAN PIANO Diary 6

JOY — We are going to Aarhus!

David Ianni
MY URBAN PIANO
Published in
5 min readAug 23, 2017

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After a short summer break that I used to work on a new composition for piano and orchestra (more infos about that in a future post) and to spend some quality time with my family, I am coming back now, fully committed, to MY URBAN PIANO (if you are not familiar with the project, you’ll find a short description at the end of this post).

If you haven’t seen episodes 1 and 2, you can watch them here:

Episode 1: TRAIN OF DREAMS (Luxembourg)
Episode 2: HEARTLAND (Esch-sur-Alzette)

Since early June I’ve been doing a lot of research, have made many phone calls and written a ton of emails in order to prepare the shooting of episode 3 in Aarhus, Denmark, which is the European Capital of Culture 2017. I am especially grateful to the awesome team at the Embassy of Luxembourg in Copenhagen. His Excellency Ambassador Gérard Philipps, an avid musician himself, the attachée for economic and cultural affairs, Ms. Véronique Clement, and our Honorary Consul in Aarhus, Mr. Poul Viggo Bartels Petersen, were all very generous with their time and full of enthusiasm for my project. Since the embassy in Copenhagen is not only our embassy for Denmark, but also for Sweden, Finland and Norway, I already look forward to working again with this outstanding team when I’ll shoot another episode for MY URBAN PIANO in another Scandinavian country. But that’s for later.

Two weeks ago, Björn (my manager) was in Aarhus to meet some of our partners. Our Danish friends are lovely people, with plenty of creative ideas and positive vibes. Today I would like to present you a few important actors who will be a part of Episode no. 3, JOY.

The videographer: David Draad

I discovered the fantastic work by David Draad on Aarhus 2017’s Instagram account. David is an ambitious video artist from Silkeborg, which lies about 50 km west from Aarhus. Not only do I admire his talent, but I also like his name, especially the similarities between “Draad” and “Ianni”! A nice coincidence and hopefully a good omen. David is very young but has already a lot of experience. I am impressed by his ideas and look forward to working with him.

StreetAttack by David Draad

The Piano Designer: Peninna Risgaard

Peninna Risgaard is a Danish artist who describes her art to have “a touch of ancient history and modern attitude”. Her recent works include a very nice contribution to the “Art Doors” project. She is excited about MY URBAN PIANO and will create a beautiful colorful design for my “Joy Piano”, together with a group of children. You can follow Peninna on Facebook and on Instagram, where she is very active.

The Photographer: Toke Hage

Toke is a photojournalist and a musician based in Aarhus. You can check out his work on his website. I like his style very much and look forward to working with him. We will also use one of his pictures for the single relase of JOY (every video premiere is accompanied by a music single release).

The Piano Sponsor: Juhl-Sørensen

The piano vendor Juhl-Sørensen immediately agreed when I asked them to be a part of MY URBAN PIANO. They are an official partner of Steinway & Sons, and I am proud and grateful to work with them.

The Shooting Location: Godsbanen

Aarhus is a great city with plenty of exceptional locations. One of the coolest places to hang out is Godsbanen, a multicultural centre with a crazy roof that is built to have people walk on top of it! Or pianists play there. Let’s hope for good weather… Have a look at the Facebook event for the video shoot. I am also happy that I will play a concert there on 2.09.2017 (see links below).

The Concert Organizer: Aarhus Festuge

Aarhus Festuge is a huge festival in Denmark. I am delighted to play two concerts on my “Urban Joy Piano” after the shooting of the video. My appearances are scheduled for Saturday, 2.09.2017, 15:00 at Godsbanen and 20:00 at Byparken.

The shooting is going to take place on 1st and 2nd of September, mostly at Godsbanen. If you are in the neighborhood, feel free to come by and say hello. I will be happy to play a piece for you. Also, don’t miss my concerts on Saturday, 02.09.2017 at Aarhus Festuge (Godsbanen 15:00 and Byparken 20:00). Find all the event links below!

And for all of those who cannot be there: my friend Dan Schank will be traveling with me and produce a ‘making of’ video to share some great impressions of our trip to Aarhus.

Episode 3 of MY URBAN PIANO: JOY and the ‘making of’ video will be premiered in Schifflange, Luxembourg, at the Ferriminera Festival on 14.09.2017 at 19:30. More infos here.

Links

Photo by Emile Hengen.
Photo by Emile Hengen

Pianist and composer David Ianni from Luxembourg has become well-known for his project MY URBAN PIANO: a series of music videos is produced in different European Capitals of Culture. An original composition is dedicated to each city, performed on an artistically designed piano. Each piano is donated. Join the journey and follow David on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and sign up for his newsletter. Each video plus making of material is published to David’s YouTube channel. For more information, please visit www.davidianni.com.

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