Mauro Ffortissimo Needs $500 More on Kickstarter to Complete Piano Project

He's baaack!

The Twelve Pianos project and documentary by Mauro Ffortissimo is putting a dozen pianos on the San Mateo coastline to play for the whales.

Ffortissimo created this Kickstarter project to make possible a unique performance art project, and the documentary film about it is already underway. By pledging $10, donors can join the "Sunset Piano Secret Society" where they will be alerted of the locations and times of the pianos, which will not be made available to the public. 

Kickstarter is a crowdsource funding platform where entrepreneurs and inventors can ask supporters to help donate. Ffortissimo needs to raise $23,000 on Kickstarter to make his project a reality by Monday, July 15. As of 9:35 p.m. on Tuesday, July 9, Mauro needs $560.  

The $23,000 will include: 

• Piano acquisition and moving
• Repairs and tuning 
• Piano maintenance and protection during installation
• Equipment and truck rentals
• Moving crew
• Rewards expenses 
• Film production and post production by Dean Mermell www.storyfarm.tv

Members of the "Sunset Piano Secret Society" will receive by email a pdf of a special, hand drawn map of their locations as the crew approaches the time of their deployment. Members can print it out and spend a day or two touring the installations. Members will also receive updates about specific times and locations of performances by well known bay area musicians and other "piano happenings", as well as updates to the project as they happen.

The project also lives on forever in a book, Sunset Piano. 

This history: 

Mauro Ffortissimo is a northern California artist and musician. In February 2013 he brought a grand piano to a bluff overlooking the Pacific and played during every sunset for two weeks. It struck a nerve, and thousands of people came. So did the media (Google "Sunset Piano" and see what happens...more links below). By Valentines day, Sunset Piano was something of an international phenomena. When asked why he did it, Ffortissimo said, "I wanted to play for the whales". 

The current plan: 
In early July, Mauro is planning to deploy twelve pianos at select locations along the beautiful San Mateo coastline. Anyone can come and play a piano by the sea, anytime. He's inviting some incredible bay area musicians to join him in bringing attention to the fragile state of the world's oceans, as well as the near extinction of the "personal" piano. 

Piano manufacturing has dwindled, and the neglect of acoustic pianos has caused thousands of them to end up in landfills. The "Twelve Pianos" project will focus the spotlight on two species with uncertain futures.

The pianos will remain for approximately two weeks, or until the powers that be force their removal. We hope you'll join our campaign to learn more and to show your support for this unusual guerrilla art project.