From June 23rd to July 13th, London will come alive with the sounds of Chopin and Elton John. And Chopsticks, probably! Play me, I'm yours, a project by the artist Luke Jerram, has been touring cities around the world since last year (including, here in the UK, Birmingham, Bury St. Edmunds and Bristol in September).

Thirty pianos will be placed around the city and, with nothing more than a couple of chains to protect them from the wiles of vandals and 'musicphobes', Jerram hopes the instruments will encourage trust. A full-time tuner will maintain the pianos, but it's up to the public to cover them up when it rains and keep the song books safe!

Each one will be decorated with an appropriate motif, such as money outside the Bank of England, 1960s-style psychedelic swirlsin Carnaby Street and fruit and veg in Portobello Road. Other prominent sites include the British Library, the Natural History Museum, Tate Modern and St. Paul's Cathedral.

UPDATE:

Robert Hardman has written an interesting, and typically irreverent, review of the project here.