The Arrivals Hall in Terminal 1 at Dublin Airport is now home to a Schiller upright piano, which has been installed to encourage people of all ages and abilities to play.
Donated by John Murphy of Murphy’s Piano Tuning & Repair, who in turn received it as a donation from the family of Margaret Costello, the piano is a novel way of treating all airport users to random musical performances.
“A piano is not something you would normally expect to hear in an airport setting and it evokes curiosity and surprise every time it is played,” said Dublin Airport Managing Director Vincent Harrison.
“The randomness of performances is what makes this piano so special and it brings a smile to so many peoples’ faces. We’re sure the new piano will be really popular with passengers and we encourage people of all ages and abilities to play it,” he added.
John Murphy was inspired by other public piano projects across Europe and has brought his music can take you anywhere project to five locations in Ireland, including Pearse station in Dublin, and Dublin Airport.
“I am delighted Dublin Airport is hosting this piano in Terminal 1, as it is the perfect place for it. I want to encourage people from all around the globe to sit, play and enjoy the music of this wonderful instrument,” he said.
As the piano is in Arrivals it can be played both by passengers and by friends and family who are there to greet them. “You can now serenade your loved one with a romantic tune or play them something more upbeat as they appear through the Arrivals doors,” Mr Harrison said.
The installation of the piano is the latest element in Dublin Airport’s Sense of Place project, which aims to allow passengers, whether arriving or departing, to experience Ireland while still at the airport.
Other installations in the series include Vibrant Irish Light, an eye-catching spectrum of rainbow colours located between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, the Irish Wildlife exhibition in Pier 2, All in A Name – a history of Irish names at the South Gates and James Earley’s Light Years mural which depicts a seagull soaring into flight and is located on the link corridor between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2,
“Adding a musical element to our Sense of Place installations ensures that we are displaying not only Ireland’s vibrant visual, natural and historic beauty but also the music and song that Irish people are famous for,” Mr Harrison said. “We are also looking forward to hearing great tunes from people all over the world making music on our new piano, especially this Christmas season.”
Those who play Dublin Airport’s Piano are invited to share pictures and videos on social media using the hashtag #DublinAirportPiano and to tag @DublinAirport and @irishpianotuner in their posts.
Dublin Airport has welcomed almost 29.2 million passengers in the first 11 months of the year, which is a 6% increase compared to the same period in 2017. More than 1.8 million additional passengers have travelled through the airport between January and November.
Dublin Airport has flights to almost 190 destinations in 43 countries, operated by 56 airlines.
Image above: Dublin Airport Graduate Project Officer Operations, Audrey Chew was the first person to play Dublin Airport's new public piano.