Officials give piano project a few days

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SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- A San Francisco artist said officials have given him a few extra days to keep his baby grand piano on the bluffs overlooking a bay.

Mauro Ffortissimo, 50, whose real last name is Dinucci, said he and four men moved the piano onto the bluffs overlooking Half Moon Bay Feb. 1 and he has since been holding sunset concerts every day to regale passersby with classical music, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Monday.

Ffortissimo said a code enforcement officer informed him a few days later that he would have to remove the piano because he did not have a permit, which the officer told him would take "a year" to obtain.

The artist said officials agreed to wait until Thursday to enforce the codes, allowing him to continue his project for a few more days.

Ffortissimo said his idea for the "Sunset Piano" project is to play the same pieces each night and see how they differ as the elements affect the instrument.

"The piano's getting progressively out of tune, out of whack, out of everything," Ffortissimo said. "I'm doing the same thing, but nature's changing the piano. Everything's in flux."