50 pianists play at Hudderfield Contemporary Music Festival
IT was the first performance of its kind in the UK.
Fifty amateur pianists playing the same piece of music simultaneously in the same venue.
The music filled Huddersfield Town Hall yesterday for the spectacular performance as part of Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival.
And the performance came after a mammoth logistical operation to ensure the instruments were all in place at the right time.
The piece the musicians tackled was Piano Phasing by Dutch composer Kristoffer Zegers.
Zegers was inspired to write the music from his childhood experiences.
He said: "When I was a little kid I would walk to the local church.
"I heard the bells ringing along with those from other churches and they were always out of phase.
"Even when I was young I was fascinated by this music."
Initially, Zegers wanted 50 pianos and 100 pianists to play the piece.
Steven Leeming, an associate at Besbrode Pianos, told the Examiner it would have been a "logistical nightmare" shifting 50 pianos into the town hall.
Instead, the Leeds-based company provided 23 upright pianos free of charge to sit alongside the two instruments already in the main hall.
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