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Sounds of Democracy

From: Salt Institute for Documentary Studies
Length: 00:06:35

Portland Public Library's free piano offers more than music the folks who play it. Read the full description.
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Piece Description

Music pours out of a free piano at the Portland Public Library, one of the few such pianos in the country. Along with the notes flow the pianists’ memories and stories. Produced by Elizabeth Chur. Photo of pianist Matthew Araujo by Cecelia Duchano.

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Review of Sounds of Democracy

This piece explores the piano, through a group of people who use the public piano at a library in Maine. Music acts almost like another voice in the piece. On some level, the people didn't even need to introduce themselves, and instead this could have been an anonymous group of people, each telling a little truth about piano music. Ultimately, I didn't learn so much about the individuals, but rather, I was left with a heightened sense of the piano.

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