In this toy extravaganza event, the Pestova/Meyer Piano Duo go decidedly overboard and indulge in an unashamed display of toy piano bravura. Since John Cage’s famous diatonic Suite for Toy Piano of 1948, the toy piano repertoire has undergone unprecedented growth. The contemporary counterparts to Cage’s ten-note toy pianos are fully chromatic with a three-octave range and expanded possibilities.
This concert will chart the evolution of music for one and more toy pianos from percussive cowbell arrangements (Ueno) and virtuosic passagework (Svensson) to the extended sound-world of electronic processing (Dijkstra), and include a new arrangement for two toy pianos of Stockhausen’s Tierkreis, originally for music boxes.
The portability of the toy piano means that it can be literally carried into any performance space. However, if the concert venue already has a regular piano, the performers can offer additional repertoire combining the toy piano with its larger and more established ancestor.

Solo toy piano
John Cage (1912-1992), Suite for Toy Piano (1948)
Fabian Svensson (1980), Toy Toccata (2009)
Clio Montrey (1985), Barcarolle, Broken Music Box (2009)
Ken Ueno (1979), From the Silences of the Fishes (2009)

Two toy pianos
Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928-2007), Tierkreis ** (1974)
David Smooke (1969) Toy With Me (2009)
Reza Namavar (1980) new work for two toy pianos *
Fabian Svensson (1980) new work for two toy pianos *
Jorrit Dijkstra (1969) new work for two toy pianos and electronics *
John Cage Music for Any Number of Toy Pianos (1960)

Optional:
Piano and toy piano
Alcides Lanza (1929), aXenia (2009)
Yu Oda (1983), new work for piano and toy piano *

(*commissioned by the Pestova/Meyer Piano Duo)
(** arranged by the Pestova/Meyer Piano Duo)