Pasadena, California – 08/05/2015

At tonight's recital, Mark Robson mixes selections by classical figures like Mozart and Bartók with works by newer composers. But there's a twist. The local pianist will perform everything on toy piano and melodica in a program called "Tinkling With Tiny Keys." As pianist with L.A. Opera and a mainstay with the adventurous music series Piano Spheres, Robson certainly knows his way around a keyboard, but it will be fascinating to see and hear how he unravels complicated melodies within the limited range and bell-like tones of a toy piano. The program includes the world premieres of pieces by Nick Norton, Hunter Ochs, Michael Roth and Blair Whittington, as well as John Cage's Dream, Silvia Corda's The Root of the Wind, Béla Bartók's Mikrokomos and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Andante in F major, K. 616, among others.
By Falling James