It’s not Carnegie Hall, but the music being played from this truck could transport you there.
Co-founders and directors Nick Luby and Susan Zhang founded The Concert Truck and since 2016, they have traveled around the country performing for a wide variety of communities with their mix of classical piano performances.
“It is amazing to see what a person's first reaction to new music is,” Luby said.
The mobile performance brings the joy of music to people across the country in their one-of-a-kind truck equipped with lights, a sound system, a stage and a piano that allows them to play anywhere, anytime.
“We'll pull up on a location set up very quickly and we'll be ready to go,” Luby said.
Thanks to Cal Poly Arts Director Molly Clark, Central Coast communities that normally wouldn’t have access to a classical musical performance of this nature, will now get a chance to hear the masterful musicians at work.
“We wanted to have the concert truck engage with as many different types of audiences as we possibly could,” Clark said.
From March 13-17, elementary schools, housing authorities and different organizations in both San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, including the Downtown SLO Farmers' Market, will get a chance to host Luby and guest pianist Mikael Darmani.
“We've heard a lot of enthusiasm from the community about this project just because it's, it is out of the box, so to speak,” Clark said of the community response.
Downtown SLO Events Manager Maggie Kovach furthered the notion that people are intrigued by the unique musical experience.
“People have been really interested," she said. "We've gotten some comments on social media, just like they've not seen anything like it before. They're going to come out just to see the concert truck.”
On the corner of Higuera and Chorro Street, Luby and Darmani will perform Thursday evening for the 8,000 to 10,000 people that Kovach says come through the weekly Farmers' Market.
“Anybody that's walking on Higuera Street is going to be able to just stop and listen to the music,” Kovach said.
The concert truck has 10 free performances this week throughout San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties with a main performance for anyone to enjoy at Farmers’ Market from 6-9 p.m.
Other performances this week:
- Shell Beach Elementary, Creston Elementary, Cal Poly University, and Santa Maria-Bonita School District
- TMHA – Transitions-Mental Health Association
- HASLO – Housing Authority of San Luis Obispo
- HASBARCO - Housing Authority of the County of Santa Barbara
- ECHO - El Camino Homeless Organization
