Interactive Harmony: The Musical Legacy of Don Lewis at Delucchi Park
A jubilant, smiling Maestro sweeps one arm skyward as he conducts, while one leg defies gravity and dances to the beat. Atop an elevated podium at Delucchi Park, he presides over an orchestra waiting to be played. Around him, low bass tones hum through towering chimes, bells answer with shimmering resonance, and metallic notes drift through the air like birdsong. Here, public art is not simply something to look at—it is something to touch, hear, and play.
Six sculptural instruments surround the Maestro, transforming the plaza into a living orchestra of discovery, joy, and human connection. The towering Contrabass Chimes produce deep, resonant tones. Pagoda Bells shimmer in reply, while metallic notes from the Aria float through the air. Cymbals add bright bursts of rhythm, and the curved Harp and wing-shaped Manta Ray Chime create layers of sound that rise, overlap, and dissolve into silence before beginning again.
A soft mallet becomes a musical wand. No musical training is needed—only the curiosity to strike a note. In this musical environment, listeners become participants: the community itself becomes the orchestra.
The interactive musical environment honors Don Lewis, creator of the groundbreaking Live Electronic Orchestra (LEO), who devoted his life to exploring the intersection of technology, sound, and human interaction. An innovative musician and inventor, Lewis encouraged others to discover the wonder and joy of making music. His invitation was simple and enduring: “Say YES to Music!”
Artist Anton Standteiner created the mixed-metal Maestro with his Mountain Forge crew in Truckee, California: Riley Dickinson, Dakota Myers, Justin Bounanoma, and Jack Lyons. Standteiner’s artistry is rooted in generations of metalworking. The son of Austrian-born master blacksmith and artist Hans Standteiner, Anton began in the family shop as a small boy, first sweeping the floor and making small tools, then by high school creating and installing projects alongside his father and brother.
Standteiner later studied architecture at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and completed a formal apprenticeship in Oberammergau, Germany. His work brings together that Old World tradition of hand-forged metalwork with contemporary design, using mixed metals and both traditional and modern techniques to create highly detailed sculptural forms.
The project was initiated through a partnership between the Pleasanton Cultural Arts Council and Nancy and Gary Harrington’s Harrington Art Partnership Piece for You (H.A.P.P.Y.) program, with endorsement by the Pleasanton Civic Arts Commission and Pleasanton City Council.
On June 4, 2026, the Maestro arrived at the musical plaza, taking his place before an orchestra waiting to be played. Across from Meadowlark Dairy in Pleasanton, at 4501 First Street, sculpture, music, technology and play come together in a tribute to a man who believed music should invite participation.
With the Maestro eternally conducting, the symphony is never quite finished. Each visitor adds something new—a note, a rhythm, a moment of discovery—and Pleasanton itself becomes part of Don Lewis’s continuing musical legacy.
Jan Coleman-Knight