Leeds is alive with the sound of music for Piano Day

International young scholars including Aliya Alsafa from the Lang Lang International Music Foundation Piano Day 2019 play at the Leeds Corn Exchange

Leeds has a long and rich connection to music of all kinds and today it celebrated the art of playing the piano.

From Leeds College of Music being the only establishment in the UK to host further and higher education courses, to the globally acclaimed Leeds International Piano Competition and modern music festivals, the city always seems to hit the right note.

Today (Friday) it celebrated the Leeds Piano Trail where a number of pop-up performances were hosted in venues throughout the city centre as part of Piano Day.

The annual worldwide event was founded by a group of like-minded people to create a platform for piano related projects to share the centuries-old joy of playing piano alongside promoting the development of musical dimensions.

Jasper Heyman from the Lang Lang International Music Foundation Piano Day 2019 plays at the Leeds Corn Exchange.

Performances took place on pianos located in Leeds Station, Victoria Quarter, Kirkgate Market, the Corn Exchange, the University of Leeds Parkinson Building and Leeds City College Technology Campus throughout the day.

Three international young scholars from the Lang Lang International Music Foundation as well as students from University of Leeds, Leeds College of Music and Leeds City College performed classical and more popular music as well as self-taught local pianist Rowan Lewis.

Carlotta Giammarinaro, a second-year University of Leeds Music & Mathematics student said: "Piano Day is a fantastic worldwide event and I’m very happy to be playing in the beautiful Parkinson Building at the University of Leeds as part of the city’s contribution. Playing the piano has enriched my life so much.”

Leeds Piano Trail was brought to the city in conjunction with Leeds International Piano Competition 2018 by LeedsBID (Leeds Business Improvement District) and Besbrode Pianos Leeds. A number of pianos have remained in in the city centre for members of the public to play and enjoy ever since.

Three international young scholars Aliya Alsafa, with Shuheng Zhang and Jasper Heyman from the Lang Lang International Music Foundation Piano Day 2019 play at the Leeds Corn Exchange. Pianists play pop-up performances on the Leeds Piano Trail, hosted in venues throughout the city centre.

The performances today come as part of wider celebrations of the piano with the 2019 Leeds Piano Festival, which got underway on Thursday.

Events are planned until April 7 and some of the highlights include a recital tomorrow (Saturday) at the Leeds College of Music with the 2018 Leeds International Piano Competition winner Eric Lu performing as well as world-renowned pianists Steven Osborne (April 3) and Barry Douglas (April 5).

The Young Scholars of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation also perform on April 1 as well as undertaking extensive learning and engagement activities throughout the city and celebrity pianist Alistair McGowan, who performed on the Leeds Piano Trail last year, brings his Introductions to Classical Piano to Besbrode Pianos on April 7