My Piano Classrooms - 2007 - 2017
511 Marigny St. (The Iron Rail)
My first piano classroom in New Orleans was started at 511 Marigny St in 2007, in a warehouse space which was also the home to the Iron Rail Library, Books To Prisoners, and a circus practice space. Prior to Katrina, the space had been home to an artist collective called The Ark, and the building was often still referred to as the Ark. There was an old upright piano being stored in an unused part of the warehouse, surrounded by mardi gras costumes, unused bookshelves, and other random stuff. I got permission to have the piano tuned, and used the bookshelves to create a room for the piano, right behind the circus space, and right across the hall from Plan B and the Iron Rail. I built the space with the intention of using it as a practice space for myself and as a space to organize free music classes. But in order to use the space, I had to wait until noon for the Iron Rail to open, or I had to bang on the building manager’s door and ask him to let me in. The Ark was shut down by the city in 2012, and The Iron Rail and Plan B had to find new homes. Now the space has been converted into condos. |
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Mardi Gras Zone Supermarket
My second piano classroom in New Orleans was in a 24 supermarket called “Mardi Gras Zone”. The piano was generously donated by Peter Spring of the Stephen Spring Foundation, and it was forklifted to the second floor balcony of the supermarket. I was allowed to set up a 24 hour music space. I built a classroom space around the piano. I set up a rug, a table, a computer, a printer, and a yoga mat and yoga ball. For a few years, it was the only piano I had access to in New Orleans, and it was the only place I had to go at night. Many of the employees thought I lived up there. I was allowed free coffee and donuts in exchange for playing music. |
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The Red House
My third piano classroom in New Orleans was at the Red House, which was a D.I.Y community event space in the bywater on the corner of St. Claude and Press Street. I moved the first piano into the Red House in the 2012. I helped to start a weekly monday night “Old Time” jam at the house. I tried organizing a piano classroom space and a piano repair space there, and I tried setting up a kitchen for the house. In June of 2014 we were kicked out by the owners, and I had to find a new home for the pianos. |
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The Esplanade Art House
In the summer of 2013 I moved into the Esplanade Art House and began moving pianos into the downstairs kitchen area to fulfill my dream of having a piano classroom within a kitchen. But it turns out that I moved in to the house during it’s final days. The house was sold to new owners in June of 2014, the same month that we were losing the Red House as well. I spent the rest of the summer moving pianos to temporary storage spaces, and looking for new places to set up a classroom. |
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2120 Port Street
In the fall of 2014, a new community space was started at 2120 Port Street, by the former owner of the Esplanade Art House. It was an old auto-body shop which had been abandoned for many years. At first, it didn’t even have a roof. I began building a new piano classroom in the upstairs section, shortly after a roof was built. I had four pianos upstairs before there was even electricity or a bathroom. (In the early days, the space was referred to by people as “the piano warehouse”) I also tried to build a community library and a yoga area and a computer lab. I also helped to build a downstairs kitchen, and moved a piano into it, and tried organizing weekly kitchen jams. The first official event at the new space was during Mardi Gras, 2015, and in the following year became a popular venue for art shows and commercial dance parties, and over time the space evolved into a commercial events space, and there was no longer room for my piano classroom there. Whenever there was a new event booked, the pianos needed to be moved out of the upstairs area and wheeled onto the ramp, where they would be held up by cinderblocks. Feeling betrayed and taken advantage of by the owner, I decided to move my pianos out and find new homes for them once again. |
Since Port Street…..
It took a year (2014) to move all of the pianos into port street, and it took another year (2015) to move them all out. They are now scattered between a few different community houses. Two were moved into Mandeville Street, two were moved into Piety Street, one was moved into the Spagetti Speakeasy on St. Claude (which has recently been evicted), and two were moved to the Plan C Warehouse on Broad St. (both pianos were destroyed by flooding this August.)
Currently, my only functional piano classroom is in a room in a house on St. Ferdinand Street. It is unclear how much longer this classroom can survive. I need to find a way to raise $150 a month to pay rent on the space, or I need to find a new home for my pianos by October.
It took a year (2014) to move all of the pianos into port street, and it took another year (2015) to move them all out. They are now scattered between a few different community houses. Two were moved into Mandeville Street, two were moved into Piety Street, one was moved into the Spagetti Speakeasy on St. Claude (which has recently been evicted), and two were moved to the Plan C Warehouse on Broad St. (both pianos were destroyed by flooding this August.)
Currently, my only functional piano classroom is in a room in a house on St. Ferdinand Street. It is unclear how much longer this classroom can survive. I need to find a way to raise $150 a month to pay rent on the space, or I need to find a new home for my pianos by October.