Praise for SORCERESS OF THE NEW PIANO:

"Pianist Margaret Leng Tan has been fighting the good fight for avant-garde music for a quarter century -- a "sorceress" indeed -- and now she is the subject of one of the best films ever made about a musician. Evans Chan explores Tan's work in the same manner that she explores a piano -- from the inside out. SORCERESS OF THE NEW PIANO is not only an exciting work of art in itself, but one of the very few films that manage to communicate some real and substantial information about the art of music."

-- Tim Page, The Washington Post

"Ms. Tan has created a small revolution in piano playing over the last 20 years. Although she is by no means the first to master the techniques of performing inside the piano, her way of combining the avant-garde pianism with her toy piano work, as well as her program of commissioning new works for both instruments, has made this diminutive pianist an important figure in the world of contemporary music...She is the subject of a new 90-minute documentary by Evans Chan, SORCERESS OF THE NEW PIANO."

--- Allan Kozinn, The New York Times

"I loved SORCERESS OF THE NEW PIANO ! Margaret Leng Tan is one of those rare, nay unique, artists whose passion and creative awareness help her audience discover and appreciate the most intriguing, underknown 20th century music in Evans Chan's mesmerizing documentary."

--- Michael Nyman, composer

"This film is full of surprises: from the riveting opening performance of George Crumb's Makrokosmos, to Leng Tan's duo with singer Joan La Barbara - played without using any of the piano's keys! To see this slightly-built woman transformed into a pounding, elemental force of nature behind the piano is one of contemporary music's great treats. To see how she brings that same intensity and musicality to the toy piano is another. Evans Chan has captured both in this charming, very human film."

--- John Schaefer, host of New Sounds,
WNYC/National Public Radio

"Evans Chan's SORCERESS OF THE NEW PIANO offers a fascinating glimpse into the world of Margaret Leng Tan, where the aesthetics of East and West collide and Zen quietude meets the can-do spirit of American maverick composers Cage, Cowell and Crumb. To watch her conjure up an exquisite musical sensibility from the poorest of dime-store materials is also deeply inspiring."

--- Phil Johnson, The Independent (UK)

“a documentary of often tantalising fragments, pithy observations, fascinating archive, and intriguing encounters…if you’re intrigued by the sounds, the ideas, or the sight of a serious musician with a wicked sense of humour playing Beethoven on the toy piano at the Beethoven Haus in Bonn, or Satie on the banks of the Seine in Paris, or…restoring the sound of the toy piano to the most famous toy pianist on film: Schroeder from Charles Schulz’s Peanuts cartoons, then you should most definitely take a look.”

--- Andrew McGregor, BBC Radio

"Lucky enough to escape a stultifying upbringing in Singapore, the divine Margaret Leng Tan fetched up at the Juilliard in New York and went on to become not only the foremost performer of John Cage's piano music but also a prime supporter/interpreter of modern keyboard music in general -- and the only person to explore the musical and sonic potential of the toy piano. Evans Chan's exemplary documentary is first and foremost a portrait of the woman, seen talking with remarkable candour and performing with even more remarkable aplomb, but it also encompasses an astute mini-history of avant-garde music in the 20th century complete with footage of Merce Cunningham choreography and visual work by Jasper Johns and Marcel Duchamp. As no-nonsense as its subject, the film does a terrific job demystifying "experimental" music; the pieces performed here (including works by Cage for prepared piano and George Crumb's Makrokosmos) have more immediacy and impact than most stadium rock."

--- Tony Rayns, 2005 Time Out Film Guide (Penguin)

"Margaret Leng Tan embodies the fact that avant-garde music is international, multicultural, Asian as well as Western... In SORCERESS OF THE NEW PIANO, Evans Chan's camera literally gets inside the piano with Tan, actively engaging her as a creative force during her performances, and bringing to the screen the excitement of seeing how musical experimentation opens new avenues for aesthetic expression. As in many of his other documentary and fiction films as well as in his critical work on Susan Sontag, Chan highlights the role women artists and intellectuals play in the international avant-garde. Just as Tan opens up this world to new audiences by playing The Beatles on toy piano, Chan's film promises to bring Tan's music to those who have never considered the importance of Asians, Asian Americans, and women within the musical avant-garde. SORCERESS may well be the best documentary ever made about avant-garde music."

--- Gina Marchetti, HKCinemagic.com

“SORCERESS OF THE NEW PIANO and THE MAVERICK PIANO present a superb portrait of a charismatic performer, as well as an exciting compilation of “new piano” music. A feast for both the eye and the ear, they will enhance knowledgeable listeners’ appreciation of the imaginative compositions of the three C’s et al, while providing a stimulating introduction for those new to this esoteric, but highly accessible niche. And where else will you see Beethoven performed on the toy piano? (Watch the trailer at www.youtube.com/user/ModeRecords.) Highly recommended.

--- Robert Schulslaper, "WANT LIST" Fanfare, Nov/Dec 2008

The Singaporean-born pianist Margaret Leng Tan has now long enjoyed a worldwide reputation as the foremost pianistic champion of the (mostly) American avant-garde, being particularly associated the music of what she calls ‘The Three Cs’, Henry Cowell, John Cage and George Crumb, the last two among her closest associates. In this consistently interesting, engaging and artfully constructed film, we hear much from her about her life, perspectives, ethics and instruments (including a fleet of toy pianos), and much informative and insightful commentary from composers, critics and colleagues.

--- Barrie Staines, PIANO magazine (UK)

“This DVD is a must-buy for those who wish to delve deeper into the history of contemporary piano and the evolution of music written for prepared piano. The film is divided into two separate parts…The second part of the DVD, THE MAVERICK PIANO, is an audiovisual supplement to the theory explored in SORCERESS OF THE NEW PIANO [in the first part]…Leng Tan interprets the pieces that best represent the evolution of piano in the 20th century. Her music is complemented by performances, puppets and found videos…The DVD is essential for those who wish to break into the world of prepared piano and the use of toy pianos. This is by far one of the most remarkable eras in the history of piano.”

---Roberto Diaz Ramos Compact CD (Spain) May 2010
(translation: Gaspar Orozco)

SORCERESS OF THE NEW PIANO was selected as
“Best Contemporary Music DVD”
in CD Compact magazine (Spain) in 2010

"As agile a thinker as she is a player - found plucking the strings inside her Steinway, manipulating the bolts and pegs in a prepared piano, and banging up against a tiny toy instrument in the film and on concert stages around the globe - Tan flits between high and low, personal recollection and music history, with the fever of a feeding swallow or excited molecule, taking up points in contemporary music, references to sweatshop labour, allusions to Peanuts' [comic character] Schroeder, and moments in Dadaism with equally emphatic enthusiasm [in SORCERESS OF THE NEW PIANO]."

-- San Francisco Bay Guardian

For more reviews please visit:

http://moderecords.com/catalog/194tan.html

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