Swiss artist Alain Roche plays piano hanging from a crane in Munich

Saratu Abubakar, Staff Reporter

According to dictionary, encounters are sudden experiences or meetings. For some people it is just another experience that doesn’t mean anything. While for others it is a movement.

Alain Roche is one of those that believes in encounters. Pianist-composer and inventor of Piano Vertical has had various encounters that have been instrumental in his artistic journey. One started his vocation as a professional pianist; another, at music academy, helped him make the right choices: contemporary music over classical, piano over oboe; another one led him to discover the stage and comedy.

Founder of Piano Vertical during a concert. Reuters

Live at a concert in a construction site in Munich, Germany Roche dazzle audience with his artistry of the piano and his physical strengthen of playing the instrument hanging from a crane.

Recently, his encounter with dancer and choreographer Stephanie Boll, shook his core beliefs and led him to look deep and question his vision of art and piano. Together, they founded BOLL & ROCHE CIE.

2013 saw the beginning of the unusual project PIANO VERTICAL, when playing the piano became a full body experience for Alain Roche. Handling the physical demands of playing vertically while constantly looking for the groove. He has been involved in all aspects of artistic production and learned the codes – composition, set design, lighting, sound design .