Phyllis Chen

Last Thursday I was able to attend Phyllis Chen’s piano concert. I have been to many concert recitals like this before but I thought this one was very different compared to the others. Phyllis Chen did not just switch from one piano to another. She switched from a grand piano, one that we see every day, to a toy piano. I had never seen a toy piano until the concert and I was amazed with how different the toy piano is compared to a regular piano. The toy piano has a lighter tone and no deep noise to it at all. The regular piano has a deeper tone and more seriousness to it. I thought the whole feeling to Phyllis Chen’s concert was exciting for the most part. She introduced some new elements to the piano compared to the regular sounds that we usually hear.

The first song Phyllis played was very fast pace and loud. She shocked the audience right away as she played the toy piano so quickly and loudly. She really showed the power of the piano right away. I also liked the different ranges that she was showing on the toy piano. It could go from high to low but still maintained its toy-like ways. In her next performance she played the regular piano. If she started off with the regular piano, then I would have thought of her performance as something that I had seen before. It would have been nothing new. Since Phyllis started off with the toy piano, she showed her unique style right away.

In her second performance, Phyllis played with mixing bowls and the piano. I don’t know how she came up with the idea of playing both the bowls and the piano but I thought it was really different. I didn’t really understand why she chose to do that but I thought it was entertaining. The bowls gave off a serious tone and when she played the toy piano with the bowls, the tone lightened. In her second song, the bowls sounded like a church bell that was calling for the ceremony to begin and the piano gave off the sound of feet or steps. I thought it was really cool with how she incorporated both the bowls and toy piano to work together to make great music.

My favorite performance was the piece where Phyllis played the toy piano and a beat from the computer. The song was fast paced and sounded electronic and fun. She played the piano in tune with the computer. Another piece that I liked was a piece that she played from another pianist. She held a competition a couple of years ago and a student showed the power of the toy piano in this piece. The song originally started off slow but then it escalated into a much deeper and more powerful sound. It ranged from slow to fast paces and from loud to quiet sounds. I was amazed with how much a toy piano could actually do.

I thought Phyllis Chen’s overall performance was an exciting one. She really shows true talent on both the regular piano and the toy piano. I would definitely go to another one of her performances.

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