Why Is A Piano Made Of Ice In Grand Rapids?

Grand Rapids is such a fun city, with so many things to do year-round.

One of the biggest events happens every other fall and it's called ArtPrize

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We also have something fun to check out this winter called "World of Winter 2022"
The event kicked off on Friday, January 7th, and runs through Sunday, March 6th.

WHAT IS THE WORLD OF WINTER 2022

The World of Winter Festival takes advantage of Michigan’s cold climate to provide interesting ways for people to experience and enjoy the season. This Festival aspires to make Grand Rapids a more active winter city - which makes Grand Rapids a more active year-round city. All programming and activities are FREE, socially-distanced for these pandemic times, and geared for both families and adults. World of Winter is organized by Downtown Grand Rapids Inc., the City of Grand Rapids, and numerous community partners.

One of my favorite things I saw when I went downtown to check out World of Winter was the Ice Piano. It's located near the blue bridge sandwiched in between Grand Valley and the Public Museum, and it's an actual piano made of ice that you can play.

I spoke with Randy Finch, owner of Ice Sculptures LTD, about the Ice Piano his team made for World of Winter.

What's the story behind the Ice Piano?

We had it on our television series on the Food Network. We did a fully working piano and we used a keyboard on it. So we made a different style of it and that way people could come up and actually play it.  There's a keyboard and it's tied to the singing tree. So as the music plays the tree lights up.

 

I also talked to Kevin Cavanaugh, who performed on the Ice Piano. He has just gotten back to Grand Rapids from California. Kevin said:

To see all these wonderful things happening in the wintertime that Grand Rapids is doing, it's fantastic.

What do you think about the Ice Piano?

It's an amazing piece of work. When I first saw it I thought it was just so beautiful. It was just amazing playing it. And the guys made it before 12 noon today.

 

After checking out the Ice Piano I walked around the city with my wife Lindsey and got a chance to check out some of the World of Winter exhibits. You can take a look at some of the cool things going on below.