2016
84 Pianos
All the pianos in the Queensland Conservatorium played at once. 30:00.

PERFORMERS OF THE PREMIERE
Aaron Liu, Alex Ranieri, Alexandra Bartetzko, Andrew Mai, Anthony Lau, Ayeesha Gough, Brenna Lee Cooney, Cameron Bower, Campbell Kelly, Catherine Grant, Charlotte Fung, Chloe Beer, Colin Noble, Crystal Smith, Disklavier, Eden Armstrong, Ellen Dalton, Elli Welsh, Erik Griswold, Eunice Goh, Finn Gilfedder-Cooney, Francis Atkins, Gabi Mills, Gemma Scott, Graeme Jennings, Hannah Pike, Heidi Chan, Imogen Scott-Parker, Isabella Gerometta, Jack Jones, Jenni Fleming, Jing He, Jocelyn Wolfe, Johan Kuyler, Joseph Durcau, Josephine Nguyen, Joyce To, Kassidy-Rose-McMahon, Kaywyn Lim, Khoa Tu-Nguyen, Liam Barr, Liam Estares, Liam Kerr, Lily Colmer, Louise Denson, Maggie Chen, Matthew Garvie, Maxwell Hinton, Meg Burstow, Natasha Vlassenko, Nathaniel Smorti, Nic Reynolds, Nick O’Loughlan, Oleg Stepanov, Pauline Park, Rachael Shipard, Reuben Johnson, Ruby Luck, Ryan Weymouth, Sabrina Setiawan, Salvatore Leo, Sarah Hooton, Serene Yu, Shelli Hulcombe, Stephen Emmerson, Stephen Newcomb, Tim Kim, Toki Onada, Tom Macintosh, Vanessa Tomlinson, Vivienne Smith, Yitzhak Yedid, Zane Neal
PREMIERE (2017)
Crashing tone clusters, droning arpeggios, fragments of familiar tunes fill the halls, hallways, practice rooms, nooks and crannies of Queensland Conservatorium in a unique mass piano performance. Using all of the pianos at the Queensland Conservatorium in-situ, 84 Pianos literally sound the building, providing audiences with a chance to explore and compare acoustic spaces and experience architectural resonances. A choose-your-own adventure entry inside a piece of new music, conceived by Vanessa Tomlinson and composed specially for World Science Festival 2017 by Erik Griswold. In 2018 the work was remounted for the Australian Piano Duo Festival.
PANDEMIC EDITION (2020)
During the Covid quarantine lockdown of 2020, 84 Pianos was reconceived as an international live-streaming event. Pianists from around Australia and the world joined in live, using an innovative web-platform and mixed by Leah Barclay. An in-depth article about 84 Pianos: Pandemic Edition can be found in Resonate Magazine. And the full performance video is available on our YouTube channel.
REVIEWS
THE AUSTRALIAN
"Imagine 84 pianos playing at once. The doors of every auditorium and studio at the Queensland Conservatorium are flung open, 84 pianists play from the same score, mobile phones and tablets keeping track of durations and cues...In a sense, each listener to Griswold’s 84 Pianos creates his own composition as echoes and fragments bounce off walls or along corridors. Standing still or moving creates different sonic perspectives."
LIMELIGHT MAGAZINE
"Without a doubt, the most intriguing event resulted from a simple idea: what would happen if all the pianos in the building played together? Griswold had the inspired answer in 84 Pianos, a thirty-minute tour de force for every keyboard in the building, from Disklavier to Kawai grands to humble uprights. The doors of every studio were open, listeners strolled along corridors and passageways, creating their own sonic experiences as they meandered aimlessly or remained stationary. The pianists played from a single score, artfully laid out to create fragmentary echoes and ricochets of ear-catching euphony."
THE SECTIONS OF THE PIECE
84 Pianos by Erik Griswold for all of the pianos in the Queensland Conservatorium played at once
Pt 1 Bang
Pt 2 Out of heart of light
Pt 3 Low rumbling
Pt 4 Blue Nancarrow
Pt 5 Crashing Waves
Pt 6 Giant’s Steps
Pt 7 Sun Showers
Pt 8 Buzzing
Pt 9 Ripples
View the complete score.