Phyllis Chen
Pianist | Toy Pianist | Multimedia Artist
Phyllis Chen’s artistic pursuits take her in numerous directions as a toy pianist, pianist, composer and performance artist. Named a New Music/New Places Fellow at the 2007 Concert Artists Guild International Competition, Ms. Chen creates original multi-media compositions, often in collaboration with video artist Rob Deitz, using toy pianos, music boxes, electronics and video, and she offers these works in concert alongside those by prominent 20th century composers such as John Cage and Julia Wolfe. The Chicago Reader confirms Phyllis Chen’s status as a trailblazer commenting: “…she’s become one of the world’s leading proponents of the toy piano.”
Highlights of Ms. Chen’s 2009-10 recital engagements include the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival in Kalamazoo, MI; New York’s Look & Listen Festival; Chicago World Music Festival; Indianapolis’ Big Car Gallery; and the Lotus World Music Festival in Bloomington, IN. She also collaborates in a special project with cellist Johannes Moser called the Sounding Off Tour, which takes them to Europe and across the US, including performances in San Diego, San Francisco, Malibu, Boulder, Detroit and culminating at New York’s Le Poisson Rouge.
In the 2008–09 season, Ms. Chen appeared in a critically acclaimed concert on the CAG/New Works series in the Thalia Theatre at Symphony Space that showcased her prowess on toy piano and traditional piano. Reviewing the evening, The New York Times declared: “This was stylish, beautifully measured playing, lightly pedaled, crisply articulated and texturally transparent.” Featured composers were Bach, Janáček, Pertout, Lucier, Nathan Davis (a world premiere commissioned by CAG) and Ms. Chen’s own inter-disciplinary work The Memoirist. Excerpts from this work and other of her signature pieces appear on her debut CD, entitled UnCaged Toy Piano, released on CAG Records in fall 2009.
Also in 2008–09, Phyllis Chen was the featured musician for the world premiere and ensuing six-week run of Stephin Merritt’s Off-Broadway production, Coraline. Other season highlights included recitals in California and Pennsylvania and at the Christopher Henry Gallery in New York City where she offered the premieres the winning works from The UnCaged Toy Piano Competition, an annual event created by Ms. Chen as a forum to expand the repertoire for toy piano and electronics.
Ms. Chen’s traditional piano credits include honors at the International Bartok/Kabalevsky Piano and the Coleman Chamber Music Competitions. She was lauded for playing a Beethoven concerto “with amazing grace, with enviable clarity, and with finger work of both strength and elasticity” (The Herald Times, IN), and her victory at the Marjorie Barnett Competition of Chicago included a special Bach Prize for her performance of the Goldberg Variations. As a result, Ms. Chen was invited to perform at Symphony Center’s Buntrock Hall. She has also performed on the Dame Myra Hess Series at the Chicago Cultural Center, aired live on WFMT Public Radio.
Ms. Chen is a member of ICE (International Contemporary Ensemble), a Chicago and New York-based collective dedicated to the performance and promotion of new works, and she has also collaborated extensively with tenor Peter Tantsits, presenting song cycles by Benjamin Britten in Russia and England.
Phyllis Chen attended Oberlin Conservatory as a recipient of the Dean’s Talent Award Scholarship and received a Masters Degree from Northwestern University as an Eckstein Merit Scholar. While working on her DMA in piano performance at Indiana University under the tutelage of André Watts, Ms. Chen hosted her own radio program, The Toad’s Wart, on IU’s radio station WIUX-LP.
Hear Phyllis:
Friday, November 5 – Woodlands Salon Concert Series
Monday, November 8 – Houston Arts Presenters Showcase
Wednesday, November 10 – Impulse Performance
Friday, November 12 – Club Concert
Impulse Interview with Phyllis:
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