Cypriot musicians play for Guinness world record (Video)

A group of Cypriot classical pianists broke the world record for the most people playing a single piano at the same time on Wednesday, subject to confirmation from Guinness.

The group of 25 arranged themselves around a grand piano to break the record.

Stavros Kyriakides, director of the Kyriakides piano gallery and the man who had the initial idea, told the Cyprus Mail after the attempt that he was “very confident” that the record had been broken and that Guinness would verify the new record within the coming days.

“It was amazing. Now we are waiting for it to be officially amazing”, he said.

He said “25 pianists came together to cooperate on the project, something that does not happen too often in the world of piano”.

He called the event emotionally moving, saying that friends and family of the 25 record breakers turned out to watch the attempt take place.

The musicians performed original music by a Cypriot composer finding a way for everyone to sit, stand or lay on a Ritmüller Concert Grand GP-275 piano.

Speaking about the reason for attempting to set this new record, he said “classical music is not just some relic of the past. They could not be more wrong. It is modern and it is everywhere”.

“Classical music plays during children’s cartoons, it is the anthem of Europe, which was created by Beethoven. It is entertaining and fun to go round a friend’s house and stand around a piano, and play it, and enjoy it.”