Bridget Convey, 42, has been playing the piano most of her life. In college, Convey found a new way to play, altering the pitches on strings and adding nuts, bolts, erasers and other foreign materials to the inside of the piano.

Convey will play a concert this Friday, Sept. 20, at 8 p.m., at the Corthell Concert Hall on the University of Southern Maine campus in Gorham, and will also lead a workshop open to students. The concert features Convey playing a work by John Cage, the avant-garde American composer, called “Sonatas and Interludes,” his most technically complex piece. The piece, however, is rarely performed because of the requirements needed to play it, including a small- to mid-sized grand piano that can be altered – with objects such as bolts, screws, plastic and rubber

Convey, who taught a contemporary piano literature class at USM, will spend the majority of her day on Friday setting up the piano, which takes about five hours to make ready for the pieces she plans to play during the concert.

Convey answered some questions from the American Journal about her inspirations and mentors and how she discovered how to make her music unique every time she plays.

Q: When did you start playing piano?

A: At the age of 5.

Q: How did you get in to tinkering with the piano?

A: I started studying modern and contemporary music seriously while I was an undergrad at State University of New York at Purchase. During that time, I had begun to practice utilizing extended techniques and some minor piano preparations. While in graduate school at California Institute of the Arts I began exploring more complete prepared piano repertoire, mainly works by John Cage.

Q: How long does it take to set up the piano to play John Cage’s “Sonatas and Interludes?”

A: Forty-five of the 88 pitches are prepared, and some of those pitches can have up to three preparations per pitch. It takes approximately five hours (for me) to prepare the piano for “Sonatas and Interludes.” After initially putting the materials in their proper place, then you have to spend time playing and tweaking the materials around until you get the desired sound you want on that specific piano. Every piano is different.

Q: Did you follow directions on how to alter the piano strings for the sound required to play Cage’s piece, or did you have to figure it out by yourself? Can you describe that process?

A: John Cage has very specific and clear instructions (a “Table of Preparations”) for his prepared piano pieces. You first follow his very specific instructions from his “Table of Preparations” and then you need to spend time making the sounds work on that specific instrument that you are performing on. No two performers sound alike when it comes to prepared piano music, which is very cool.

Q: Besides adding rubber, bolts and an eraser to the inside of the piano, do you do anything else to alter the strings? Does that change how you play or just the sound?

A: “Sonatas and Interludes” asks for bolts, screws, some bolts and screws with nuts, plastic, rubber and an eraser. Other prepared piano pieces will ask for all sorts of materials. You also are asked to use the damper pedal (right pedal) and una corda pedal (left pedal). Usually the una corda is used to soften the sound of the piano, in this case the una corda is used as a sonic changing device. This poses some challenges. Also, the reaction of the hammers on the strings seems to change, and since each pitch has a different sound and/or timbre this can be very disorienting. A pianist usually gets accustomed to some sense of uniformity across the instrument. Now the piano has been changed to a “percussion ensemble controlled by one player,” so our normal pianist instincts gets lost.

Q: Can you describe the piece?

A: “Sonatas and Interludes” is a journey. As a performer you travel through so many different places emotionally and sonically. As a listener you do the same. It is a wonderful experience to hear a prepared piano, but a work as large and beautiful as this one seems like an honor to experience and perform. Although I never meet John Cage personally, it seems as though all of his honest and true colors come through in this work. From what I have heard from others who knew Cage, he had a “true” beauty about him and so does “Sonatas and Interludes.”

Q: Do you still play classic pieces or is your focus more on the alternative sounds?

A: As a freelance musician I play all sorts of music, styles and keyboard instruments. Most of the time the instruments I play on are not deliberately altered.

Q: How did you discover Cage’s music?

A: All music students learn about John Cage while studying music history and the great composers. Each professor has a different outlook or opinion on that subject matter. Fortunately, where I studied, John Cage was a very well-respected member of our music’s past. I had many friends and colleagues who had met, been friends, and/or worked with Cage professionally. I only knew Cage through their stories and through Cage’s music and writings.

Q: What do you hope students will get out of the workshop you are holding for them before your performance?

A: The workshop is an opportunity for student composers (and performers) to learn a bit about on how to properly prepare and un-prepare a piano. This is serious business. Also, it’s a chance to learn a bit regarding composing for prepared piano, options, marking things clearly for your performers, etc. The student composers will also get the opportunity to hear their brand new pieces. Thankfully, USM is offering this opportunity to their students, which is not always the case.

Q: What’s some of your best advice for piano players looking to try something new?

A: As pianists, we have a huge amount of solo repertoire written for our instrument. This can be viewed as wonderful or overwhelming. I see it as wonderful. There is so much music that has never been heard before, explore it and enjoy it. Maintain an open mind, listen a lot, perform often, and enjoy the process.

On Friday in Gorham, pianist Bridget Convey will play a piece by John Cage that requires some changes to the instrument. Cage, she says, “has very specific and clear instructions” on those changes.