Piano Drop
February 11–March 15, 2019
In 1968 KRAB FM – which was founded and run by the Jack Straw Foundation, now known as Jack Straw Cultural Center – collaborated with the Helix newspaper and KRAB producer and musician Larry Van Over to drop an upright piano from a helicopter at Van Over’s farm in Duvall, Washington.
Piano Drop, a commemoration of this historic occasion, publicly displays what remains of this instrument for the first time since the event, along with historical film footage and documents, and recordings of new music composed and performed on the instrument.
Artists performing at Piano Drop Event
This exhibit is a collaboration of Jack Straw Cultural Center, the KRAB Archive, Paul Dorpat (Helix co-founder and KRAB programmer), Charles Reinsch, and the musicians who responded to our open call: James Borchers, Jeffrey Bowen, Gust Burns, Amy Denio, Luke Fitzpatrick, Lori Goldston, Bruce Greeley, Jay Hamilton, Bradley Hawkins, Aaron Keyt, Dave Knott, Austin Larkin, Constantin Parvulescu, Stanley Shikuma, Ski, and Brandon Lincoln Snyder. Special thanks to Larry Van Over and our friends in Duvall, without whom the piano drop would never have happened.
Artists
James Borchers
James Borchers is an American composer, musician, and sound artist. His recent works focus on the threshold between sound as a naturally occurring phenomenon and sound as a vessel for…
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Jeff Bowen
Jeffrey Bowen is a composer whose work explores the potential of musical structure to channel, transfigure, and reframe lived experience. His compositions have been performed by Pascal Gallois, Maja Cerar…
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Gust Burns
Gust Burns composes performances of music. Drawing on his experience as a pianist, contemporary art practices, and 20th century composition, Burns’ works blur differentiations between performance, score, recording, and text…
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Count Constantin
Count Constantin is a violinist, composer, bow maker and luthier.
The violin is the world’s most perfect amplifier. It can find ghosts from the past and receive signals from…
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Amy Denio
Amy Denio is a composer, improviser, singer, and multi-instrumentalist whose main instruments are voice, alto saxophone, clarinet, accordion, electric guitar, and bass. She was inducted into the Seattle Jazz…
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Luke Fitzpatrick
Luke Fitzpatrick is a violinist, composer and improvisor. He is a founding member and artistic director of Inverted Space, a Seattle-based new music collective. Recent solo performances include Earle…
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Lori Goldston
Based in Seattle, Goldston is currently working as a performer, dance class accompanist, teacher and studio musician. Discography and performances include work with David Byrne, Nirvana (Unplugged), the Presidents of…
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Dave Knott
David Knott, MM, MT-BC is a board-certified music therapist, fellow in the Academy of Neurologic Music Therapy, instrument maker, improvisor and composer living and working in Seattle. In…
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