Margaret Leng Tan
Encyclopedia
Margaret Leng Tan 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 piano
s. She is also known to be a classical music performer using unconventional instruments like toy drums, soy sauce
dishes, and cat-food cans.
She was born in Singapore
on 12 December 1945, the daughter of former Straits Times
Press chairman C. C. Tan, 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.
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
. 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. She recorded her groundbreaking album, The Art of the Toy Piano, on Point/Polygram in 1997. 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
.
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
. 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 onboard the plane, and had it strapped to a seat next to her.
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.
Tan is the featured performer for "Inside the Piano" on the Treasures of The New York Public Library Video Series.
A Singapore citizen, Tan now resides in Brooklyn
, New York
, and has collected 18 toy pianos.
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
artist known for her work as a professional toy pianist, performing in major cities around the world on her 51 cm-high toy piano
Toy piano
The toy piano, also known as the kinderklavier , is a small piano-like musical instrument. The present form of the toy piano was invented in Philadelphia by a 17-year-old German immigrant named Albert Schoenhut. He worked as a repairman at Wanamaker's department store, repairing broken glass...
s. She is also known to be a classical music performer using unconventional instruments like toy drums, soy sauce
Soy sauce
Soy sauce is a condiment produced by fermenting soybeans with Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus sojae molds, along with water and salt...
dishes, and cat-food cans.
She was born in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
on 12 December 1945, the daughter of former Straits Times
The Straits Times
The Straits Times is an English language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore currently owned by Singapore Press Holdings . It is the country's highest-selling paper, with a current daily circulation of nearly 400,000...
Press chairman C. C. Tan, 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.
In 1981 Tan met John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
, 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
Jasper Johns
Jasper Johns, Jr. is an American contemporary artist who works primarily in painting and printmaking.-Life:Born in Augusta, Georgia, Jasper Johns spent his early life in Allendale, South Carolina with his paternal grandparents after his parents' marriage failed...
. Since then she has since been hailed as "the leading exponent of Cage's music today" (The New Republic
The New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
) and "the most convincing interpreter of John Cage’s keyboard music" (The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
). She performed Cage’s music throughout North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and in the PBS "American Masters" films on John Cage and Jasper Johns
Jasper Johns
Jasper Johns, Jr. is an American contemporary artist who works primarily in painting and printmaking.-Life:Born in Augusta, Georgia, Jasper Johns spent his early life in Allendale, South Carolina with his paternal grandparents after his parents' marriage failed...
. The association with Cage also led to her enchantment with the toy piano
Toy piano
The toy piano, also known as the kinderklavier , is a small piano-like musical instrument. The present form of the toy piano was invented in Philadelphia by a 17-year-old German immigrant named Albert Schoenhut. He worked as a repairman at Wanamaker's department store, repairing broken glass...
. She made her debut on the instrument in 1993 at New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
’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
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
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. She recorded her groundbreaking album, The Art of the Toy Piano, on Point/Polygram in 1997. 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
Morton Feldman
Morton Feldman was an American composer, born in New York City.A major figure in 20th century music, Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminate music, a development associated with the experimental New York School of composers also including John Cage, Christian Wolff, and Earle Brown...
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
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
on 14 April 2002, and performed Cage's Concerto for Prepared Piano and Chamber Orchestra with the American Composers Orchestra
American Composers Orchestra
The American Composers Orchestra is an American orchestra based in New York City. It is the only orchestra in the world dedicated solely to the creation, performance, preservation, and promulgation of music by American composers...
.
Tan was also featured playing Cage's 4'33" on her toy piano in the Singapore documentary Singapore GaGa by Singaporean
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
film-maker Tan Pin Pin
Tan Pin Pin
Tan Pin Pin is a Singapore-based film director. She studied at the Raffles Girls' Secondary School and Victoria Junior College. Her credits include Singapore GaGa, which had a sold out seven week theatrical run in Singapore...
. 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
Abbey
An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...
in Provence
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan 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 onboard the plane, and had it strapped to a seat next to her.
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
Silverdocs
AFI-Discovery Channel Silverdocs Documentary Festival is an American international film festival created by the American Film Institute and Discovery Channel. It is held every year in Silver Spring, Maryland near Washington, D.C.. Started in 2003, the festival is held for eight days in June at...
, 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
Mode Records
Mode Records is an AmericaContemporary classical music|n record label based in New York City, New York, whose primary focus is modern classical, avant-garde, and new music. Composers featured include John Cage, Morton Feldman, Iannis Xenakis, and Harry Partch. Performers include Aki Takahashi,...
DVD.
Tan is the featured performer for "Inside the Piano" on the Treasures of The New York Public Library Video Series.
A Singapore citizen, Tan now resides in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and has collected 18 toy pianos.
External links
- Audio Interview to Margaret Leng Tan on Radio Papesse - 51° International Festival of Contemporary Music, Venice Biennale, 2007
- 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