mjf piano trail 2024

From 18 April – 26 May 2024, the mjf piano trail saw  14 free to access pianos dotted throughout Manchester available for all passers-by to play. In collaboration with our friends at Forsyth Music shop and Yamaha, 2024 also saw the return of the competition to find Manchester’s best street pianists, with a whole raft of prizes up for grabs including… a digital Yamaha P145 piano!  

Our mission, each year with the trai, is to encourage everyone within our Manchester community to come together and share in the joy of music-making! 

The 14 pianos were located around the city at: The Arndale Centre, The Corn Exchange, Forsyth Music shop, Factory International at Aviva Studios, Great Northern, Harvey Nichols, Manchester Central Library, Manchester Piccadilly Station, Quayside Media City UK, Royal Exchange Arcade, Spinningfields, HOME, Trafford Plazzo and Manchester Victoria Station.   

 Full line-up of activities alongside the piano trail included:   

• A launch within Piccadilly Station on 18 April featuring guest performances from Pianist Charlie Cooper and students of Chethams School of Music.  
• Two bespoke piano trail walking tours, run by the Free Manchester Walking Tours, on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 May (£10 per adult, children go free).  
• A series of Saturday afternoon in-store concerts from a selection of Manchester’s finest players in Harvey Nichols, Manchester throughout May. Click here to learn more.  
• A series of concerts at the Corn Exchange.

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said: “This city-region has music running through its veins, and helping connect people to new musical experiences and supporting talented musicians has always been so important to us. The mjf2024 piano trail will take music back out onto the streets of Manchester, giving more people the chance to try their hand at playing and to encounter the vibrant music of our city in a unique way.” 

Emma Loat, Manager of Forsyth’s Music, said: “For many years, we’ve had a street piano at the front of the Forsyth’s shop on Deansgate, so we know that Manchester and the surrounding areas is full of talented musicians and those willing to have a go. We’re really excited to supply 14 pianos to a growing number of venues for the mjf piano trail and we’d urge all those budding performers to come forward, have a go and be in with a chance of winning some fantastic prizes.”  

James Sargeant from Yamaha, one of this year’s piano trail sponsors, added: “We are thrilled to be working with the Manchester Jazz Festival again this year in support of the mjf piano trail 2024. This fantastic initiative enables anyone and everyone to enjoy playing and listening to the piano, in some iconic locations across the city and of course, with the chance to win a Yamaha digital piano this is not an opportunity to be missed! We look forward to hearing lots of new talent which will no doubt emerge during the trail.” 

mjf piano trail competition 

The competition has now closed and our winners will be announced shortly.

Prizes to up for grabs this year were: 

• Yamaha: Yamaha Digital Piano P145 
• Northern Rail: Four return tickets at any time to anywhere on Northern Rail network 
• Nerf Action Xperience: 2-hour session for a group of 6 at Nerf Action Xperience (Trafford Palazzo) 
• Banyan: Brand New 2 Hour Bottomless Brunch for 4 people at Banyan (Corn Exchange) 
• Cosy Club: Meal for 2 (£80 voucher) at Cosy Club (Corn Exchange) 
• Tampopo: Meal for 2 (£60 voucher) at Tampopo (Corn Exchange) 
• The Real Greek: £100 of gift vouchers for The Real Greek (Corn Exchange) 
• Garten Bar: Bottomless Steak Experience for 2 with one drink each at Garten Bar (Corn Exchange) 
• 1 Night Stay at any Roomzzz Aparthotels  
• Harvey Nichols: Admission for six people to a group 90-minute wine tasting session at Harvey Nichols Manchester 

 Please view the full T&C’s for the mjf2024 Piano Trail, at the link here.  

mjf2024 Piano Trail  

You can check out this year’s winning entry in the mjf 2024 Piano Trail from up and coming pianist and rapper, Ainsley  Vanzyl below:  

” I had such an awesome time during the piano trail, I love doing improv in front of an audience and it was so fun to explore Manchester one piano at a time!” – 2024 Winner, Ainsley Vanzyl 

We also awarded prizes to 8 highly-talented runner ups:

“Being a life-long jazz fan and someone who has been to every mjf over the years, since 1996 I was keen to take part in my own way. I played a piece that I composed during the covid lockdown called June 2020 on the lovely Yamaha grand piano in Harvey Nichols. I’m thrilled that I have been chosen as one of the winners of this prestigious competition.” Runner up, Phil Portus