A brightly painted piano in a public space. Doesn't it scream "play me"? 

That's the hope that leaders of the Pacific Symphony have for the OC Can You Play? program, a public art and music project that will station 20 brightly colored pianos around the county, including one at the OASIS Senior Center in Corona del Mar. It kicks off Sunday at 3 p.m., with a public performance in Jewel Court at South Coast Plaza by students from the Irvine Yamaha Music Center.

"We want people to get out there and play these pianos," said Kelly Dylla, the orchestra's director of audience engagement. "This is not just for professional pianists; it's for people to connect to their own musical soul." 

The pianos will show up in places such as Downtown Disney and the Irvine Spectrum. All 20 locations can be found on the website. 

"This is an opportunity to play a piano any way they see fit," Dylla said. It's a chance to "be in this unique environment. It's not about sitting down and being quiet, like you would in a concert hall," she said. 

The idea was inspired by the Play Me, I'm Yours project, a group of traveling pianos that last year came to San Jose, CA, and New York City. Dylla saw coverage of the New York project, with 60 pianos placed throughout the city.

To encourage public participation, Pacific Symphony is running contests: best video of a performance, and the "scavenger hunt," where people can visit all 20 pianos for a chance to win season tickets, or visit three pianos for 20 percent off a ticket purchase. The project's website includes a scheduler that allows anyone to create an event around a piano; the event will then be posted to both the orchestra's website and its Facebook page.  

During the last week of the project, from Jan. 30 to Feb. 6, the pianos will be auctioned through the site biddingforgood.com, Dylla said. 

A large part of the program was recruiting local artists to paint the pianos. Balboa Island resident, painter and city arts commissioner Carole Boller painted the 1910 Kohler piano that sits outside the OASIS Senior Center in Corona del Mar. 

She said, "I wanted to make it a happy piano, so that's what it is," reflected in the bright hues of blue, turquoise and yellow. She included quite a bit of black in the composition, because otherwise "it gets too crazy. ... I wanted the bare bones of this piano to be highlighted," she said as she pointed out various wood carved details on the piano.  

Her greatest hope? That Elton John comes by and plays it. But otherwise, "my strong hope is it's inviting, that it pulls someone in," Boller said. 

"Music is joy. If I hadn't been an artist, I would have been a musician," she said. 

Boller herself plays piano, having taken lessons as a young child and still enjoying it to this day. 

OASIS officials hope it will draw people to the center. "I'm sure a lot of our seniors do have a musical background but don't have access to a piano," said Justin Schmillen, assistant recreational supervisor at OASIS. "This way they can tinker a little bit. That's kind of our hope."