Islander wins Pianos in the Parks contest

Published 10:39 am Tuesday, September 1, 2015

In its second year in Seattle and first on Mercer Island, the Pianos in the Parks program brought people of all skill levels and musical persuasions together for outdoor concerts and spontaneous performances.

Islander Justin Chan and 70 others entered the Pianos in the Parks video contest. Chan recorded himself playing an original tune called “Stu’s Blues” on the Mercerdale Park grand piano and the upright piano at Luther Burbank Park.

The public was invited to vote for their favorite performances online, and the top five videos were judged by a community panel. Judges considered musicality (35 percent), creativity (20 percent), performance technique (15 percent), complexity (15 percent) and originality (15 percent).

Chan won the contest, earning more than 5,000 votes. As a result, he was the opening act at KEXP and Seattle Center’s Concerts at the Mural on Aug. 21, performing for his biggest audience by far, he said.

“I was ecstatic to win the contest. There were so many great performances. For a working adult like me to even be part of this competition was huge,” said the 37-year-old computer software consultant.

Chan filmed his video with an interesting camera angle – four hands and two keyboards. He said he takes piano lessons over Skype, and is very familiar with the overhead view.

“I set it up for my teacher… and the overhead lets him see my playing here on Mercer Island,” he said. “It’s amazing the Internet enables this type of instruction. So I thought for the Pianos in the Parks contest people would get a kick out of the overhead view, too.”

Chan, who plays at the Owl & Thistle in Seattle, said he had a jam session at the Kirkland piano.

“A guy suddenly appeared and started playing guitar. That’s what Pianos in the Parks is all about,” he said.

The Pianos in the Parks program was made possible by Laird Norton Wealth Management. All pianos were made available for free public use from July 16-Aug. 16.

All of the 22 (previously-owned) pianos were procured, repaired, tuned, transported and maintained by Classic Pianos of Bellevue, and artistically enhanced by students, faculty and alumni artists of Gage Academy of Art.

At the conclusion of this year’s Pianos in the Parks program, the pianos were sold to the highest bidder via an online auction. Proceeds from the auction are to benefit parks and arts programs in Mercer Island, Bellevue, Kirkland and Seattle.