“Maybe you’ve had your family album on it for the last five years but have never played it,” Mermell said. “All of a sudden, here’s a piano out under a tree, and there’s a hawk yelling in the tree at you because he doesn’t like what you’re playing. And there’s a bunch of people around you who know your obscure piece of music. Magical things happen all the time.”
The chance to play outdoors is what keeps 13-year-old Oscar Cervarich coming back every year.
“It’s kind of nice just to be in the fog,” he said. “But also the amount of people that can come. Sometimes in a room you’re limited to a certain amount of people, but here it’s just as many as you can get and it’s really fun.”
The interactive music festival runs through July 22. A full schedule of performances and programs, as well as links for advance ticket purchase to Flower Piano at Night and Flower Piano at Sunset, is available at sfbg.org/flowerpiano.