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Hey PW! I'm going to be cross posting this on the Piano forum for maximum reach. I hope that's ok

I'm going to be road tripping cross country shortly, from Los Angeles to New York and then back, with tons of stops in all sorts of interesting places. I'd like some of those places to be piano related, so I thought I'd post here.

If you have any suggestions as far as must see piano dealers, factories, performances, or you would be interested in allowing me to drop by and play your piano, and playing for me, please let me know! (I'm going to be suffering serious piano withdrawal on this trip, so please help!)

Thanks for any advice you can give!! I can't wait to see the beautiful country, and hopefully lots of beautiful pianos too!

I'd wager the Liberace museum in Las Vegas is a must-see.

Unfortunately the Liberace Museum closed a couple of years ago I got to see it, and really enjoyed it.

Cathy

Have you ever been to the Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, CA? It is not specifically a piano museum, but is very interesting in that it has a lot of info on how music was marketed to people and how various instruments became popular and influenced music education.

Oh, I see you are from LA, so this would be a day trip for you unless you decide to take the southern route to cross country. At any rate, good luck, sounds like a great idea for a trip.

If your route brings you through Reno, we'd love to meet you! I don't know how "interesting" we are, but you are more than welcome at our house, Sam!

Hey Thanks! I plan to go to Yosemite, so Reno doesn't seem too far out of the way at all! I've highlighted Reno in yellow on my map, and I'll come visit

Maybe PM me some contact information so I can reach you when I'm in the area.

From Wiki, Sam:

Museum of Musical Instruments (Phoenix)

Cunningham Piano in Philadelphia, PA. Its a great place...ask (best in advance) for a tour.

http://www.cunninghampiano.com/

Arlington, VA. There's an amazing Kawai K3 there

Hahaha is that an invite? Because if so, I'll definitely take you up on it

Sam,
If your are passing through Denver, I can provide lunch and a piano.
Carl

Ooh, crap ... invites are handled by Mrs. Platt and she's notoriously picky. But if you are coming to the DC area, PM me the dates and we'll see what we can do.

If you're passing through Cleveland, you can stop by and try out my Charles Walter. I would love to hear someone besides me play it!

It's on or near my route, so I'll keep that in mind

Branson Missouri, the entire city is devoted to music. I have heard one of the best a cappella performers there. The city offers many performing theaters with concerts of all kinds. I never thought I would like Irish dancing but after seeing the show, I thought it was interesting.

Also, if you are in the mood for an air balloon ride, you can go on one and see the entire city when the air balloon reaches the top.

They call the city "Mini Las Vegas" because of endless entertainment. I thought there was more music than gambling probably because I didn't look for a casino. I gamble when I go to Las Vegas.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. There's a collection of instruments, and of course there is of course a ton of old keyboard instruments of all sorts, including the famous Cristofori fortepiano from 1720. Disclaimer: I haven't actually been there myself, but it's on my list of places to see sooner or later. I'd plan on spending several hours there -- especially if you're interested in looking at any additional exhibits. http://www.metmuseum.org/en/about-t...ratorial-departments/musical-instruments

Museum of Musical Instruments in Phoenix has the piano John Lennon used to write Imagine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByadkVzUaEI

I looked to see if anything fascinating was going on here in New Orleans for you. Usually, we have a decent sized competition (the New Orleans International Piano Competition) in July, but I googled it and it seems to have changed.

Instead, there's something called the New Orleans Piano Institute and Keyboard Festival (site here: http://masno.org/index.php?page=piano-institute ). But when you look at the site, it has nothing about any festival but talks of some new piano competition. Like I said, usually, at this time of year, it's the New Orleans International Piano Competition, which I thought was an annual thing. They usually have some great talent there. But looking at the site, it seems they're skipping that this year and doing the 25th one next year.

So, don't know if that's worthy, but that's happening.

Other than that, Fats Domino's piano, which was destroyed during Katrina, is on display at the Old U.S. Mint.
They restored it to look the same, but apparently they couldn't restore the inside.

You'd think we would have more!

Have a safe journey!

Don't know your schedule, but the Cleveland International Piano Competition is being held late July through early August.

http://www.clevelandpiano.org/piano-competition/2013-competition/

And something fun to go along with it:

PLAY ME, I’M YOURS - THURSDAY, JULY 18 THROUGH MONDAY FRIDAY, AUGUST 12
CIPC and Case Western Reserve University will present Play Me, I’m Yours, an installation of creatively decorated street pianos displayed in celebration of the 2013 Competition. Thirteen organizations have come together to decorate and host more than 20 pianos for the community’s enjoyment, located throughout the campus of CWRU, University Circle, and at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Each one will invite public performances and creativity by boldly displaying the words Play Me, I’m Yours. Visit each one and let your inner artist free – you’ll be surprised at what might happen!

Sam has a video of himself at the LA installation... it would be neat to see how many he could hit nationwide.

Play Me, I'm Yours is coming to Boston in the Fall... I'm hoping to take some time to check it out.