Anatomy of the Piano
Anatomy of the Piano is a critically-acclaimed one-man show featuring virtuosic piano playing, storytelling and hand-drawn animation. It has been enjoyed by audiences of all ages across the world from Sydney Opera House to the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts - and many places in between. It has been translated into Chinese and performed over 300 times across China.
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Written and premiered in 2015 by Will Pickvance, it is the story of a boy who wants a spaceship but gets a piano. Curiosity propels him on an adventure and, meeting Bach, Beethoven and Fats Waller along the way, he discovers the piano will take him to the Moon and beyond.
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In 2018, Will was commissioned by Leeds International Piano Competition to re-work the piece for school children, in collaboration with the Lang Lang Foundation, featuring Lang Lang’s three scholars on stage with Will. Piano Fantasia premiered at Leeds Town Hall and is an ongoing project.
In 2018, Will was commissioned by Leeds International Piano Competition to re-work the piece for school children, in collaboration with the Lang Lang Foundation, featuring Lang Lang’s three scholars on stage with Will. Piano Fantasia premiered at Leeds Town Hall and is an ongoing project.
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“A thoroughly charming and craftily educational hour. There’s something inspirational and empowering about the way he places experimentation and boundary-pushing at the heart of his story” – The Scotsman
“A highly entertaining maestro of musical education for young and old alike” – The Stage
“Pickvance’s fertile imagination, his eye for the surreal and his sense of the absurd connects him immediately with his audience who sat, spellbound, mouths agog, young and old alike through-out this virtuoso performance”
– Fringe Review
Written and performed by Will Pickvance
Directed by Magda Dragan
Illustration by Tim Vincent-Smith
Animation by Ross Hogg
Stage production by Paul Maguire
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