W+K London and Pitch & Sync Launch Extra Large Piano Christmas Festival

Wieden+Kennedy London and Pitch & Sync have joined forces to create the Extra Large Piano Christmas Festival, a live musical extravaganza featuring the world’s first ten-octave piano, in aid of The Rhythm Studio Foundation.

From December 7th-14th a series of musical guests will perform live from W+K London’s public-facing Hanbury Street window every night at 6pm. The artists, ranging from classical pianists to folk singers, will take on the massively extended piano to play reimagined Christmas classics, which are 30% bigger than your usual Christmas fayre.

This amazing instrument, which is making its UK debut, isn’t just packing 30% more notes, it’s got super skills that lets musicians go way beyond Christmas jingles. Concealed within the elongated piano are sophisticated speakers which feed into samplers which, in turn, feed back into the sound of the piano strings. This creates an electro-acoustic sound quite unlike anything else, something which the programme of artists have been tasked to explore.

Passers-by enjoying the seasonal entertainment will be encouraged to make a donation to The Rhythm Studio Foundation, which works with schools, community groups and young people who have a passion for music but lack the means and support to take it further. The charity organises tuition, finance and career guidance to the next generation of musical stars.

Alex Lavery, Co-Founder and Executive Creative Director at Pitch & Sync, said: "The idea for a ten octave piano was conjured up with Michael Anetto at SAI Studios, our P&S home in Amsterdam. We quickly got excited by this possibility but it had to be a real piano. Thank the lord for Timothy Crombie bringing tools from Berlin by bus and setting to work. Tim liberated two pianos from a garage in Croydon and created our ivory Frankenstein.

"We're excited that all 124 keys will get tinkled for the enjoyment of Wieden+Kennedy London and Pitch & Sync’s shared neighbourhood and to raise money for a very worthy charity.”