The Street Pianist
Welcome to The Street Pianist! A celebration of all the delightful musicians who play street piano, even when nobody’s listening.
I'm Clare Sudbery (@ClareSudbery on Insta and, well, pretty much everywhere). I'm an amateur singer and pianist, and after appearing on season 2 of The Piano TV show in 2024, I discovered just how many street pianists there are with great stories to tell.
Every now and then, I'll be sharing another interview with one of the many pianists I've encountered on my regular musical wanderings.
The Street Pianist
6. Vroni Holzmann
Vroni Holzmann is a multi-talented pianist, singer and cartoonist. Based in Scotland, she travels the world with her piano in the back of a van, taking tourists by surprise as she pops up in unlikely places and plays old stride tunes and other music.
In this episode we hear how Vroni loves to make people happy with her moments of surreal magic. She tells me about the logistical challenges of lugging a heavy piano all over Europe: The permits, the tour partners, the ad hoc piano lifters, the tuners, and the repeat audiences. It “doesn’t make any sense” and yet somehow she keeps going back for more. If it rains, run!
This episode includes live recordings of Vroni playing the following tunes at Edinburgh’s Meadows:
- Take Five, by Paul Desmond
- Crawfish Boogie, by Walter Kocum
- Ain't Misbehavin', by Thomas "Fats" Waller, Andy Razaf and Harry Brooks
This episode is also available on YouTube, with subtitles on screen: https://youtu.be/2kxcdpNvvjc
Vroni’s petrol song: https://www.instagram.com/p/DEcjqzuPvKV/
Vroni’s cartoon about the notes falling out of the piano: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6tFNvZN13F/
Vroni - 10 years of street piano: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_I82CEZM2E
Vroni’s Insta: https://www.instagram.com/vroniholzmann/
Vroni’s website: https://www.vronionline.net/
Photos of Vroni taken at Edinburgh Meadows, by Clare Sudbery and a helpful passer-by.
The theme music is a live street piano recording of a duet between Anthony Thomas and Kai Henry (@KaiStreetPiano).
A full transcript for this episode is available on Buzzsprout and most other podcast platforms.
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