Mont Albert Village strikes a chord

Bruce Harvey: Mont Albert

Mont Albert Village’s restored heritage railway station building had a new voice this winter, after the community was gifted a preloved piano through the ABC’s popular series The Piano.

The idea began with a local resident, Richard Gerner, a retired music director, nominated Mont Albert Village when the ABC called on Australians to put forward places that should receive a piano. From a wide field of submissions across Australia, Mont Albert Village was one of just ten communities to get one.

Behind the scenes, the win reflected the kind of partnership that has become typical of the Village. Whitehorse City Council, the Mont Albert Village Business Association and local community members all worked together to convince the ABC that the piano would find a genuine home. Council approved its home being under the veranda at the Council-owned station building on the Plaza, while community and business members agreed to watch over and maintain it, including regular tuning.

To mark its arrival, the community gathered on the Plaza on Friday 24 July for a free launch concert, the ABC Pop-Up Piano on the Plaza, featuring 18 performers. Despite a chilly winter afternoon, families rugged up on the seating and picnic tables to enjoy an afternoon of good company, street food and live music.

Local musicians of all ages took their turn at the keys. Among them was Gabriel Gouzali, a young pianist who drew a hushed, appreciative response from the crowd with a solo performance of Wild Mushrooms, while Leanne and Rod the well-known local piano accordion and guitar duo added folk music charm to proceedings. The Rick Freeman Jazz Trio rounded out the concert with crowd favourites such as Moon River and the theme from the Flintstones TV show.

The Mont Albert and Surrey Hills Rotary Club lent its hand by running its sausage sizzle that is a regular feature of Saturday mornings in Mont Albert Village. The Cape social venture Café in the station building was open on the night offering warmth, coffee and cakes.

For many who attended, the concert was as much about community connection as music. Children danced between tables and neighbours who regularly pass one another in Hamilton Street took the time to stop, sit and listen together.

The piano has already become a fixture at Mont Albert Plaza, with passers-by regularly stopping to play an impromptu tune. The piano’s arrival adds another chapter to Mont Albert Village’s story of community-led revival. Alongside its curated Plaza gardens, restored station building and calendar of events, the piano has become a fitting symbol of a Village that continues to turn disruption into destination one chord at a time.

Photo : The Rick Freeman Trio performs at the ABC Pop-Up Piano on the Plaza launch concert.

Photo credit: Vincent Lee