OJ blog editor Vern Nelson proves he can play the piano at the Artists Village

Well, that was fun. Orange Juice blog editor Vern Nelson showed up at Downtown Santa Ana’s Artists Village today to tickle the keys, in the plaza by the Gypsy Den, as part of “O.C. Can You Play?,” an event sponsored by the Pacific Symphony.

As part of this event, 20 brand new pianos, which were donated by various piano manufacturers, were painted, by local artists, and staged all over Orange County.  There are three of them at South Coast Plaza, one at the Great Park, one in the Artists Village and another in Fountain Valley – which is where I drove Nelson afterwards.

Nelson had great fun playing George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.”  He also tackled Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” and he played a bit of David Bowie’s “Changes,” just for me.

It should be noted that our friends at Downtown, Inc., were the ones who brought the piano to the Artists Village.  They signed the agreement with the Pacific Symphony, got the permits from the City of Santa Ana, arranged for a local artist to paint the piano, and had it delivered to the Artists Village.

The piano has now been relocated to the foyer of the Santora building and it may be moved again in the next three weeks.  We will keep our readers posted.

The piano at the Artists Village will be there through Feb. 6.  Come on by and play a tune – and be sure to shoot some video and post it on YouTube.

Visit all 20 pianos for a chance to win 2 season tickets to a Classical, Pops or Summer series! Or just visit 3 pianos for 20% off your next ticket purchase!  Click here to read more about that.

Bonus! Here is a friend of Vern’s: