Piano Man in Madison, Wisconsin

At the right, a young man plays an old piano sitting in a yard overlooking Lake Mendota in Madison, Wisconsin.

While wandering the shores of Lake Mendota in Madison, Wisconsin, this June, I heard ethereal piano music that seemed to be coming from on high. I tracked it down. On a hill above the lake shore, a young man was playing beautiful melodies on an old piano in a yard. Sadly, the piano seemed to be set out for trash removal when it still had some life in it. Not far away, an old mattress reclined against a tree, likely awaiting its final rest in a landfill. Although, the piano was missing parts and looked worn, the young man was able to produce lovely music from its keys.

The piano was manufactured by The Edmund Gram Piano Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and is probably more than a hundred years old. I have a fondness for old pianos. I learned to play a piano that had once been in a dance hall in my grandparents’ hotel in Sturgis, South Dakota. When the hotel was sold, my parents brought the piano to our house in Kansas. My playing never approached the level of the music I heard this man play, but it wasn’t my old piano’s fault! (See link about the piano company at the bottom of the post.)

A young man plays an old piano that seems to be set out for the trash in Madison, Wisconsin.

A young man serenades a neighborhood with lovely music on an old piano in early evening in Madison, Wisconsin.

The Edmund Gram Piano Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.