You’re a wide-eyed tourist exploring Manhattan. You’ve hit up the Empire State Building, waited in line for a Cronut, and explored Greenwich Village, desperately trying to find Central Perk, or at least bump into Jennifer Aniston. Somehow, you find yourself wandering into Washington Square Park, and you’re not even mad about it.
It’s a hot summer day and the fountain and shady benches under old trees are just beautiful. You decide to explore the park. It’s at this point that you see something that seems strange, even by New York standards: a man playing classical music on a baby grand piano, outdoors, surrounded by a silent crowd of listeners on park benches. In Washington Square Park. In the middle of Manhattan.
Casual onlookers would be forgiven for thinking the whole thing as an advertising stunt, or some kind of promotion. But for Greenwich Village locals, classical piano in the park is a regular occurrence.
Every weekend (and more often during the summer), Colin Huggins trundles his baby grand piano from a storage unit he rents nearby to the park to play for the public – often for the whole day. He plays a range of classical songs and attracts a crowd far more diverse than a typical classical pianist. Parents sit for a few songs with kids, bystanders stop to listen for a minute, and tourists get distracted from their sightseeing for an hour or two.
The music is undoubtedly beautiful but, like all street musicians, the music is just part of a larger performance. Colin introduces each song to his crowd and makes good use of his dry, self-deprecating sense of humor to demonstrate that he doesn’t take himself too seriously. Audience members sitting closest to him have been known to receive commentary on the pieces as he plays them.
Washington Square Park is almost always dotted with buskers, and, somehow, Colin fits right in. He may be introducing his audiences to classical music in a wonderfully unique way, but, somehow, a classical pianist in Washington Square Park seems perfectly natural. Only in New York.
