Margaret Leng Tan (simplified Chinese: 陈灵; traditional Chinese: 陳靈; pinyin: Chén Líng) is a classical music artist known for her work as a professional toy pianist, performing in major cities around the world on her 51 cm-high toy pianos.[1] She is also known to be a classical music performer using unconventional instruments like toy drums, soy sauce dishes, and cat-food cans.[2]
Tan was born in Singapore on 12 December 1945, the daughter of former Straits Times Press chairman Tan Chye Cheng, and started taking music lessons at the age of six. In 1961 the young Tan took first place in the Singapore-Malaysia annual piano competition, and won a scholarship to study at The Juilliard School at age 16 in the following year. In 1971 she became the first woman to earn a Doctorate in Musical Arts at Juilliard, and became the diva of the prepared piano, inserting nuts and bolts into the instrument and playing it inside out to rave reviews.[3]
Musical career
In 1981 Tan met John Cage, and since then they continued to work together for the last 11 years of his life. In 1984 she was awarded a US National Endowment for the Arts grant. Between 1990 and 1991 she gave retrospective concerts of Cage's music in collaboration with artist Jasper Johns.[3] Since then she has since been hailed as "the leading exponent of Cage's music today" (The New Republic) and "the most convincing interpreter of John Cage’s keyboard music" (The New York Times). She performed Cage’s music throughout North America, Europe and Asia and in the PBS "American Masters" films on John Cage and Jasper Johns. The association with Cage also led to her enchantment with the toy piano. She made her debut on the instrument in 1993 at New York’s Lincoln Center, playing Cage's 1948 Suite for Toy Piano. Since finding this first toy piano, she continued to acquire many others, including a 37-key Schoenhut toy grand piano. She continues to, in her own words, "remain wholeheartedly intrigued by the toy piano's magical overtones, hypnotic charm, and not least, its off-key poignancy."
It was in 1993 at a thrift store in the East Village in New York Tan bought her first toy piano which cost a mere US$45. The 45-cm-high, two-octave little toy thus became her instrument to deliver the 1948 Toy Piano Suite, and her first love to toy pianos.[2] She recorded her groundbreaking album, The Art of the Toy Piano, on Point/Polygram in 1997.[3] In 2002 the pianist performed in Berlin on 9 March, and in New York for a separate celebration of both John Cage and composer Morton Feldman on 13 April. In that same year Tan made history as the first Singapore-born musician to play in the Isaac Stern Auditorium of the Carnegie Hall on 14 April 2002, and performed Cage's Concerto for Prepared Piano and Chamber Orchestra with the American Composers Orchestra.[4]
Tan was also featured playing Cage's 4'33" on her toy piano in the Singapore documentary Singapore GaGa by Singaporean film-maker Tan Pin Pin.[5] She is also never far from her toy pianos, and with a fair share of tickling stories on her travels with them. In 2001, when she was invited to perform in an abbey in Provence, France the technical staff advised her to store her toy piano away to prevent bat droppings from landing on her precious piano. In the end her piano was placed under the grand piano; this arrangement of a little piano underneath a big one reminded Tan of Matroska dolls. In another occasion, she remembered a funny sight when she carried her piano on board the plane, and had it strapped to a seat next to her.[1]
Evans Chan's 2004 documentary, Sorceress of the New Piano: The Artistry of Margaret Leng Tan, has been invited to numerous international film festivals including Vancouver, Melbourne and AFI/Discovery Channel's SILVERDOCS, where it was nominated for Best Music Documentary. Sorceress and Chan's The Maverick Piano, which features live performances by Tan, are available as a Mode Records DVD.[6]
Tan is the featured performer for "Inside the Piano" on the Treasures of The New York Public Library Video Series.[7][8]
^"Margaret Leng Tan". Singapore Women's Hall of Fame. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
^. MediaCorp Pte Ltd. Channel NewsAsia. 16 October 2015. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
External links
Margaret Leng Tan performs at the Other Minds Music Festival in 1999 at the Cowell Theater in San Francisco.
Article on New York Times
Margaret Leng Tan interview on Ràdio Web MACBA - Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona
"Big Music, Shrunk to Fit a (Much) Smaller Scale"
January 31, 2023
margaret, leng, simplified, chinese, 陈灵, traditional, chinese, 陳靈, pinyin, chén, líng, classical, music, artist, known, work, professional, pianist, performing, major, cities, around, world, high, pianos, also, known, classical, music, performer, using, unconv. Margaret Leng Tan simplified Chinese 陈灵 traditional Chinese 陳靈 pinyin Chen Ling is a classical music artist known for her work as a professional toy pianist performing in major cities around the world on her 51 cm high toy pianos 1 She is also known to be a classical music performer using unconventional instruments like toy drums soy sauce dishes and cat food cans 2 Margaret Leng TanTan performing on toy piano in 2015Background informationBirth nameMargaret Tan Hee LengBorn1945SingaporeGenresClassicalOccupation s Pianist Toy pianistInstrument s piano toy piano Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Musical career 3 Awards 4 Personal life 5 Discography 6 References 7 External linksEarly life and education EditTan was born in Singapore on 12 December 1945 the daughter of former Straits Times Press chairman Tan Chye Cheng and started taking music lessons at the age of six In 1961 the young Tan took first place in the Singapore Malaysia annual piano competition and won a scholarship to study at The Juilliard School at age 16 in the following year In 1971 she became the first woman to earn a Doctorate in Musical Arts at Juilliard and became the diva of the prepared piano inserting nuts and bolts into the instrument and playing it inside out to rave reviews 3 Musical career EditIn 1981 Tan met John Cage and since then they continued to work together for the last 11 years of his life In 1984 she was awarded a US National Endowment for the Arts grant Between 1990 and 1991 she gave retrospective concerts of Cage s music in collaboration with artist Jasper Johns 3 Since then she has since been hailed as the leading exponent of Cage s music today The New Republic and the most convincing interpreter of John Cage s keyboard music The New York Times She performed Cage s music throughout North America Europe and Asia and in the PBS American Masters films on John Cage and Jasper Johns The association with Cage also led to her enchantment with the toy piano She made her debut on the instrument in 1993 at New York s Lincoln Center playing Cage s 1948 Suite for Toy Piano Since finding this first toy piano she continued to acquire many others including a 37 key Schoenhut toy grand piano She continues to in her own words remain wholeheartedly intrigued by the toy piano s magical overtones hypnotic charm and not least its off key poignancy It was in 1993 at a thrift store in the East Village in New York Tan bought her first toy piano which cost a mere US 45 The 45 cm high two octave little toy thus became her instrument to deliver the 1948 Toy Piano Suite and her first love to toy pianos 2 She recorded her groundbreaking album The Art of the Toy Piano on Point Polygram in 1997 3 In 2002 the pianist performed in Berlin on 9 March and in New York for a separate celebration of both John Cage and composer Morton Feldman on 13 April In that same year Tan made history as the first Singapore born musician to play in the Isaac Stern Auditorium of the Carnegie Hall on 14 April 2002 and performed Cage s Concerto for Prepared Piano and Chamber Orchestra with the American Composers Orchestra 4 Tan was also featured playing Cage s 4 33 on her toy piano in the Singapore documentary Singapore GaGa by Singaporean film maker Tan Pin Pin 5 She is also never far from her toy pianos and with a fair share of tickling stories on her travels with them In 2001 when she was invited to perform in an abbey in Provence France the technical staff advised her to store her toy piano away to prevent bat droppings from landing on her precious piano In the end her piano was placed under the grand piano this arrangement of a little piano underneath a big one reminded Tan of Matroska dolls In another occasion she remembered a funny sight when she carried her piano on board the plane and had it strapped to a seat next to her 1 Evans Chan s 2004 documentary Sorceress of the New Piano The Artistry of Margaret Leng Tan has been invited to numerous international film festivals including Vancouver Melbourne and AFI Discovery Channel s SILVERDOCS where it was nominated for Best Music Documentary Sorceress and Chan s The Maverick Piano which features live performances by Tan are available as a Mode Records DVD 6 Tan is the featured performer for Inside the Piano on the Treasures of The New York Public Library Video Series 7 8 Awards EditIn 2014 Tan was inducted in the Singapore Women s Hall of Fame 9 In 2015 Tan was awarded the Cultural Medallion of Singapore by Tony Tan President of Singapore 10 Personal life EditTan resides in Brooklyn New York 3 and had collected 18 toy pianos 2 Discography EditSomei Satoh Litania New Albion 1988 Sonic Encounters The New Piano Mode Records 1988 Cage The Perilous Night Four Walls New Albion 1990 Cage Daughters of the Lonesome Isle New Albion 1994 Milos Raickovich New Classicism Mode Records 1995 The Art of the Toy Piano Point Music Universal 1997 Cage The Seasons ECM New Series 2000 Cage The Works for Piano 4 Mode Records 2002 George Crumb Makrokosmos I and II Mode Records 2004 Ge Gan ru Chinese Rhapsody BIS 2005 Cage The Works for Piano 7 Mode Records 2006 Ge Gan ru Lost Style New Albion 2007 She Herself Alone The Art of the Toy Piano 2 Mode Records 2010 George Crumb Metamorphoses Book I Five Pieces for Piano Mode Records 2018 References Edit a b Sandra Leong 19 March 2006 Her piano forte Singapore The Sunday Times p L10 a b c Tan Shzr Ee 29 July 1998 In the brew is music from a teapot Straits Times a b c d Tan Shzr Ee 29 July 1998 Tinkle tinkle little piano star Straits Times Tan s the first at Carnegie Hall Straits Times 21 March 2002 Chew David 22 March 2006 Serious toying around eresources nlb gov sg The Straits Times p 48 Retrieved 27 May 2022 Margaret Leng Tan Sorceress of the New Piano The Artistry of Margaret Leng Tan News The New York Public Library News The New York Public Library Margaret Leng Tan Singapore Women s Hall of Fame Retrieved 27 May 2022 4 awarded Cultural Medallion MediaCorp Pte Ltd Channel NewsAsia 16 October 2015 Archived from the original on 17 October 2015 Retrieved 27 October 2015 External links EditMargaret Leng Tan performs at the Other Minds Music Festival in 1999 at the Cowell Theater in San Francisco Article on New York Times Margaret Leng Tan interview on Radio Web MACBA Museu d Art Contemporani de Barcelona Big Music Shrunk to Fit a Much Smaller Scale Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Margaret Leng Tan amp oldid 1120653863, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
