Pianists will be able to play it from the mountain top if all goes according to plan this Friday at 10 a.m.
After unveiling a street piano painted by local artist Facundo Gastiazoro beside the Central Park building last Wednesday, Laura Hols-Wimbush has set her sights a bit higher. As part of her street piano project, she has organized a helicopter trip up to the Crater Lake trail on Hudson Bay Mountain with Highland Helicopters.
“Smithers is just such a great music community and passionate about mountains,” said Hols-Wimbush as she explained where her inspiration came from.
She was visiting with a friend on the ski trails when it hit her:
“I said oh, wouldn’t it be cool to put one of these pianos up on the mountain.”
Smithers artist Mark Tworow painted the mountaintop piano. Smithers own Latin Grammy and Juno-award winner Alex Cuba said he will be going up to play the inaugural Crater Lake piano concert.
Cuba said he has never done anything quite like it.
“That’s pretty new, hip, awesome, amazing, different, all that,” said Cuba, who was just back from playing a Canada Day concert at the slightly lower in elevation Parliament Hill.
The set list is not quite set, but Cuba, who usually plays guitar, said he had some ideas before going to practise his piano fingers.
“I’ll probably play something very Cuban ... I think the nice contrast would be very awesome: on a mountain covered in snow, ice, something Cuban would maybe melt the ice,” laughed Cuba.