PIANO BURNING ༼;´༎ຶ ︿༎ຶ༽

In 1968, New Zealand composer Annea Lockwood wrote Piano Burning, a piece in which a performer lights up an upright piano beyond repair, then plays the instrument for as long as possible, until it is engulfed in flames. Now the piece will be presented in Kraków, as the festival’s closing event with Martyna Zakrzewska playing the piano. Curated with Lawrence English/Room 40, Piano Burning at Unsound holds a special resonance this year acting as a meditation on the pandemic and its impact on the very nature of live performance.