For those in New York interested in seeing a player piano in
a modern environment, check out

  http://whitney.org/Events/LucyRavenPerformance 

This is part of the Whitney Biennial, the leading contemporary
art exhibition.  There are three specially-commissioned rolls,
all variants of the same piece, played automatically as part of
an art installation.

This can be considered as part of the thread of automated music
that goes back to the likes of Stravinsky, Hindemith and Toch;
quite a different take to the art-music or nostalgic aspects of 
the player piano that hobbyists typically adopt, but actually
a thread that's nearly as old as the player itself.

The interesting variant here is that the rolls are hand-played
rather than obviously-unplayable by hand, but still with the
intent of being played automatically.

All of this may be a little too high-concept for enthusiasts, but
it's interesting how a young artist sees the player piano.  It also
shows that there are, contrary to much of what's said, young people
interested in the player piano -- but in their own terms and
today's terms, not necessarily like those our hobby tends towards.

Julian Dyer