birth_place name background birth_date instrument genre article_title birth_name occupation
singapore '' ` margaret leng tan '' ' non_vocal_instrumentalist 1945 piano toy piano classical margaret leng tan
 margaret tan hee leng pianist , toy pianist
margaret leng tan

margaret leng tan -lrb- chinese : 陳 靈 ; min nan : `` tân lêng '' ; pinyin : `` chén líng '' -rrb- 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 .
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 '' -lrb- `` the new republic '' -rrb- and `` the most convincing interpreter of john cage 's keyboard music '' -lrb- `` the new york times '' -rrb- .
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 on board 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 .
