John Lennon's piano may help New Orleans

05/31/2007 1:39 PM, AP


The piano on which John Lennon composed his hit song "Imagine" in 1971 has been brought to New Orleans for a photograph session that the piano's new owner hopes will bring awareness to the hurricane-stricken city.

The piano will be photographed at two locations — the lobby of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art and Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop, which was built sometime before 1772 and is rumored to have been the base of operations for the pirate Jean Lafitte in New Orleans.

The piano, owned by musician George Michael, will be photographed by Kenny Goss, the owner of Goss Gallery in Dallas. The piano's stop in New Orleans is part of a worldwide tour of sites where acts of violence have taken place and locations that capture the human spirit.

"Kenny and George want to honor those that lost their lives, those injured and those whose lives were impacted forever by Hurricane Katrina," said Caroline True, director and producer of the piano project.

To date, photos have been taken at Dealy Plaza, site of President Kennedy's assassination; the Memphis site of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s killing; the Ford's Theatre in Washington D.C., site of the death of Abraham Lincoln; and the former Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.

A documentary and a book are under development with plans to donate proceeds to charity.

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On the Net:

Imagine Piano Peace Project, http://www.lennonpiano.com