John bringing music to the Dublin commuting masses
Though he doesn’t actually play piano himself, Tara Hill native John Murphy recently brought music to the masses when he initiated the ‘Pearse Piano’ at Pearse Station in Dublin.
John (31), son of John and Margaret Murphy, is better known locally as a singer songwriter and guitar player, but he recently returned from London to Dublin to set up a piano tuning and restoration business, and brought with him the idea of a public piano.
‘I saw them in the UK, and I couldn’t help myself, and said it just had to happen here,’ he said. He approached Iarnród Éireann with the idea of installing a piano at a train station which can be played by commuters.
‘They were totally on board,’ he said. The permanent feature was placed at the southbound platform of Pearse Station to encourage commuters to strike a chord with fellow passengers.
‘I wanted to bring the idea to Dublin to promote music and disrupt the traditional view of a piano as an inaccessible instrument,’ he said. ‘You don’t need to be a Jools Holland or Mozart. If you can play at all, you have the ability to brighten up someone’s day.’
John trained for three years in piano tuning and restoration at the Newark Piano School, a UK Centre of Excellence. He found a piano online and restored it in his workshop in East Wall. ‘The exterior wasn’t in great condition, and the interior needed some TLC as well,’ he said.
He did the restoration of the interior, while Waterford artist Sarah Edmondson was commissioned to design the artwork for the exterior.
Commuters are encouraged to share pictures and videos of the piano in use with the #pearsepiano. Tag @murphypianotuning on Facebook and Instagram or @irishpianotuner on Twitter until October 8, for a chance to win a free tuning.
John is delighted with the response to the public piano and it featured on national television and on the front pages of several papers last week. He hopes the idea will catch on, and public pianos will soon appear in other locations.
He doesn’t believe it will be targeted by vandals. ‘I think a lot of people will have respect for it,’ he said. ‘If you let vandalism get in the way of every public project, nothing would ever happen.’