Chin Park near Boston’s Chinatown Gate bustles with life on a sunny late-September afternoon. Neighborhood children mingle on geometric play structures with the children of visitors; groups of men huddle around board games; visitors and local workers stroll through underneath strings of multi-colored paper lanterns.
For 10 days, a bright yellow shipping container has been stationed among the plaza’s tables and chairs. The mysterious container, labeled “Concert for One,” offers up surprise and delight to passersby in the form of an intimate, ephemeral musical performance — one musician, one listener, for one minute.
No advance information tells listeners what instrument, performer or type of music to expect. Once ushered inside, they find a musician poised to play in a 10-by-10-foot space containing a plant, a music stand and just two chairs that put listener and performer nearly knee-to-knee.
People waiting in the queue appear uncertain or neutral, but one by one, they exit the container with broad smiles and looks of wonder.
Continue reading Next City here, courtesy of Sandra Larson