In the midst of the notes of Chopin and Brahms but also the Beatles, Queen and Nirvana, today at the airport of Fiumicino started 'Travelling Shows', with piano concerts of young pianists.

The new initiative, 'Airport Pianos', taken by Roman Airports, was founded on the model of Street Pianos from St. Pancras station in London; four grand pianos were placed beyond the security gates and near the boarding area at Terminals 1 and 3.

The stars of the show are the children of employees of Adr (Roman Airports) but soon it will be the best young talents from Roman academies and conservatives. But the instruments are already there for all the travellers, who are free to play them as they please and decide whether to allow their 'concert' to then be placed on the social platforms of Adr.

Among the passengers who participated in the first performances have been Leonardo Adriano Scapicchi, with a classical repertoire, and David Santoro, contemporary repertoire, and even the tennis champion, Roberta Vinci, departing for Palermo after returning from Beijing. 'While waiting for the plane I stopped to hear these performances which have been a pleasant surprise: among my many trips to various airports, this is the first time that I happen to witness piano playing at an airport and I'm glad that it happened here in Rome '.

'The idea, explains Francesco Delzio, Director of External Relations of ADR, is to turn a passenger's visit to the airport into a pleasant surprise: now in Fiumicino you can happen to witness an impromptu concert put together by passengers, on the four pianos we placed at terminals by the boarding gates, or to listen to a concert organized by young talents. It is an initiative that we 'stole' from the Anglo-Saxon world, but we are happy to be able to say that this is the first time that someone places pianos, in an organised way, and that an opportunity is given to passengers to use them to express themselves through music. The idea was born a few months ago, spontaneously and without advertising it, and has already enjoyed considerable success with passengers, pleasantly surprised and impressed by this novelty, many of who, Italian and foreign, have already ventured into small musical performances while waiting to board their plane'.

'Airport Pianos, ends he, fit in the philosophy of our airport, i.e., friendly and full of new services and opportunities to make more pleasant the experience of travelling, in other words, an airport ever more oriented towards the passenger and an airport infrastructure designed not only as a place of transit, but as a key part of the travel experience'.