A group of middle school students approaches the area outside C116 in Blaine Courtyard with caution. There, they find a brown, worn piano with a bright pink sign on the front saying “Please Play!” 

The excited middle schoolers scramble around the keyboard showing off their skills to classmates. As passersby play a piano, music fills the courtyard and drifts into the hallway.

A piano from the old Belfield Hall was placed next to the C116 entrance to the courtyard and is open to Lab students to play freely. The piano was put there by Music Department Chair Rozalyn Torto and will remain there until winter.

To the music department, it’s very hard to throw away an instrument, Ms. Torto said, especially if it still works. 

Ms. Torto had found the piano in storage and wanted to give it a home. She said she asked the operations staff to give it the extra leg it needed and to place it where it currently stands. 

“Instead of making an announcement ‘Hey there’s a piano,’ people could just find it on their own,” Ms. Torto said. “It’s about trying something new and having music in a different space because I think music lives in the classroom. Having music accessible even just for fun and out of the ordinary.”