Tania Chen is a concert pianist and free improviser.
She has performed in the UK, Japan, Europe and USA, playing the music of experimental composers John Cage, Morton Feldman and Cornelius Cardew. She has worked with Earle Brown in 2001 for the Earle Brown concert Union Chapel, and with Christian Wolff in June 2010. She has also premiered and performed piano works by contemporary composers such as Michael Parsons, Laurence Crane, James Saunders and Andrew Poppy. Tania has sung songs on the piano by Chris Newman and recently has been a guest vocalist for Newman’s Berlin-based band Miss Moth.
Tania Chen has collaborated with film makers such as Jayne Parker, and in May 2007 she performed alongside Michael Nyman and Gavin Bryars in the Tate Modern “Sleep” all night event in the Turbine Hall, playing Satie's 'Vexations', accompanied by a screening of Andy Warhol's film 'Sleep'.
She is equally known for her passion for free and experimental jazz improvisation, performing on piano and she also enjoys the exploration of sonorities of found objects, toys, toy piano, electronics and digital iphone apps. She regularly performs in the UK and Europe with improvisers including Steve Beresford, Mark Sanders, John Edwards, Lol Coxhill, Dominic Lash, Seb Rochford, and Guillaume Viltard.
Tania curates the series Magnitude Music and invites performers at home and internationally to perform.
Tania was awarded a place at the Royal College of Music and continued her postgraduate studies Goldsmiths College studying with John Tilbury.
She has recorded with Radio 3, Resonance FM, worked commercially for films, and has a growing number of releases on iTunes. Tania now records for the Knitted Records label.
2011
2010
JOHN CAGE INDETERMINACY WITH
STEWART LEE
A TWO EVENING EVENT FRI 2 JULY & SAT 3 JULY, SHOREDITCH CHURCH, London, E1 6JN
Stewart Lee read 'Indeterminacy' by John Cage with music by TANIA CHEN one night & STEVE BERESFORD the next evening.
The iPHONE ENSEMBLE will be performing 0'00" by John Cage
Plus more works by John Cage;
Cheap Imitation - ALISON BLUNT violin
Suite for Toy Piano - TANIA CHEN
Amplified Music for Toy Piano - CHRIS BURN, STEVE BERESFORD
Cellist RICHARD THOMAS will perform short pieces by Cage
SAT 14th AUGUST/ SUN 15th AUG /MON 16th AUG
I’m playing piano plus performances from:
Ute Wassermann voice
Gunter Christmann trombone and cello
Dominic Lash bass
Phil Wachsmann violin
Akio Suzuki self made instruments and stone flutes
Sabu Toyozumi drums erfu
Alex Ward clarinet
John Butcher saxophones
John Russell guitar
7:30PM FRIDAY 6th AUGUST, SHOREDITCH CHURCH, E1
VERSIO CHOIR sing RENAISSANCE & CONTEMPORARY MUSIC
curated by Michael Parsons and Tania Chen
Versio is a twelve voice a cappella choir from Finland specialising in Renaissance music & contemporary Scandinavian and Baltic composers.
This programme will also include contemporary music for piano and string ensemble
8PM on FRIDAY 25th JUNE SHOREDITCH CHURCH, Shoreditch High St, London, E1
A Concert of Christian Wolff’s Instrumental Music
Microexercises set 1 (2006) - selection
Microexercises set 3 - ‘For Grete’ - selection
Edges
Exercise 10
Some solo pieces
FRIDAY 11th JUNE
FIORI - VOCAL ENSEMBLE FROM FINLAND
7:30PM St Anne & St Agnes Church, Gresham St, London, EC2
curated by Michael Parsons
FIORI, an eight voice female vocal ensemble from Finland will be singing music specially written for them by Finnish composers Tellu Turkka, Liisa Matveinen, Jenny Wilhelms, Mia Makaroff, and Three Sappho Lyrics by Michael Parsons
The POST TRIO with guest violinist Alison Blunt will performLevels and a new String Trio by Michael Parsons.
Also piano arrangements and solo violin and duet arrangements of traditional Scottish and Irish melodies
with Tania Chen piano
MONDAY 7th JUNE
CHRISTIAN WOLFF CD RECORDING
The Post Trio, Tania Chen piano, Richard Thomas cello will be recording music by Christian Wolff. We will be rehearsing with Christian Wolff on Sunday 6th May in London.
12PM on MAY 23rd KETTLES YARD GALLERY, Cambridge
Exploring early modernism from its roots to 2010 with a particular focus on pieces that reflect a sense of intimacy...
David Ryan/Ian Mitchell/Tania Chen play:
Free Improvisation and music focusing on late Liszt, early Schoenberg, Michael Parsons, Christian Wolff, film by David Ryan, and an opportunity to hear preludes by the son of Alexander Scriabin, Julian who died in a tragic boating accident age 11.
Julian Scriabin - Two Preludes
Schoenberg Four Songs op.2 , no.1 “Ewartung” with clarinet
Michael Parsons Hanging Gardens Transcriptions no.2 & no. 13
Liszt Via Crucis IV & X
8PM on THURSDAY 20th MAY
BATTERSEA ARTS CENTRE - New Sounds Series
Tania Chen & Roger Turner
8PM on SATURDAY 8th MAY
at CULTURGEST ART CENTER in Porto, Portugal
Cornelius Cardew & the Freedom of Listening Exhibition
John Cage Four Walls
Michael Parsons Piano Piece 1962
Cornelius Cardew Unintended Piano Music
Cornelius Cardew Octet for Jasper Johns - a realisation
Christian Wolff Piano Pieces - selection
2PM on SUNDAY MAY 2nd CONWAY HALL, WC1
“London’s premier festival of improvised and experimental music” - The Wire
Peter Evans
Okkyung Lee/Paul Lytton
Tania Chen/Lol Coxhill/Dominic Lash
London Improvisers Orchestra
More performances continue on Monday May 3rd
3PM on SUNDAY 25th APRIL
USURP ART GALLERY http://www.usurp.org.uk/
Rodrigo Montoya
Steve Beresford
Tania Chen
8PM on SUNDAY 4th APRIL
LONDON IMPROVISERS ORCHESTRA at Cafe Oto
Each month we have guests sitting in amongst the regular improvisers. This month: F. Rzewski, E.Laine, G. Wissel.
8PM on MARCH 27th MISS MOTH
The Home Tour, Berlin.
MISS MOTH - “Home Tour - The Answer to Solutions”
I am a guest singer for their 2nd concert.
MISS MOTH are Chris Newman, Bill Dietz and Seth Josel.
9PM on THURSDAY MARCH 25th SOWIESO, Berlin
Christopher Williams/Tania Chen/Chris Heenan/Jack Wright/
Shawn Hansen/Hilary Jeffrey/Mikaele Pelligrino
3PM on MARCH 28th Certain Sundays - A Salon Series At Sowieso, Berlin
“Life in Plastic, It’s Fantastic” performance inc. “Pop Rocks” installation & talk given by Tania Chen
“Experimental Composition & The Harp” talk given by Rhodri Davies
8PM on MARCH 13th St LEONARDS SHOREDITCH CHURCH
APP iPHONE ENSEMBLE & MAGNITUDE FREE FLOW
iPhone App Sounds from: Alison Blunt, Adam Parkinson, Benedict Evans
Fusing free form, minimal, pop and found sounds using Apple iPhone sound creation apps.
MAGNITUDE MUSIC PRESENTS
Instrumentalists of Free Improvisation and Sound
MAGNITUDE STRING QUARTET & PIANO
Sylvia Hallett(vln), Alison Blunt(vln), Lucy Railton(cello),
Mizuka Yamamoto (vla), Guillaume Viltard (bass)
Perform two Chamber Pieces by Michael Parsons:
“Levels” for string Quartet 2007 & “Independent Pulses” 1998
String Quartet Improvisation with Piano
Piano music by Morton Feldman tbc - Tania Chen - solo piano
Alan Tomlinson - solo trombone
Steve Beresford - solo piano
8:30PM on MARCH 6th STEVE BERESFORD’S 60TH BIRTHDAY CONCERT AT CAFE OTO
Christian Marclay - Turntables
Steve Beresford - Piano & Electronics
Veryan Weston - Piano
Satoko Fukuda - Violin
Ute Kanngiesser - Cello
Guilaume Viltard - Dbl bass
Tania Chen - Piano
3PM on SUNDAY 28th FEBRUARY
USURP ART GALLERY http://www.usurp.org.uk/
“The Last Sunday: Monthly Music Adventures”
Free Improv + Electronic + Sound + Spoken Word + Experimental
Tania Chen (toy piano, objects, etc)
Lol Coxhill (soprano saxophone)
Max Eastley (self-made instruments)
Guillaume Viltard (contrabass)
Disinformation (electronics)
Steve Beresford (electronics, objects, etc)
FEB 4th
Recording an Album In A Day Series on KNITTED RECORDS LABEL
Shabaka Hutchings, Mark Sanders, Tania Chen
8PM on JANUARY 21st Battersea Arts Centre
New Year New Sounds
TRIO: Shabaka Hutchings - reeds, Mark Sanders - drums,
Tania Chen - Piano
2009
DEC 20th VORTEX Jazz Cafe
Christmas Mopomoso Concert
Steve Beresford & Tania Chen Duo
String Quartet & Piano
Trio with Lol Coxhill - sax, Dominic Lash - Dbl bass, Tania Chen - piano
AUGUST
OINTMENT on Knitted Records goes online on iTunes & Amazon
JULY 21st CAFE OTO
PIANO PIANO PIANO EVENING
Steve Beresford, Pat Thomas, Tania Chen
JUNE 25th LUNA LOUNGE
Free jazz / improvisation night
David Ryan cls, Dominic Lash dbl bass, Tania Chen piano.
JUNE 21st VORTEX Jazz cafe
Shabaka Hutchings cl/sax, Mark Sanders drms/percussion, Tania Chen piano
APRIL 29th CAFE OTO
John Edwards SOLO BASS & HOT NEW TRIO - Seb Rochford drums, Shabaka Hutchings cl/ sax, Tania Chen pft
APRIL 28th Chelsea Space
Earle Brown GRAPHIC SCORE Day - ALL DAY Gallery and concert
focusing on 9 REALISATIONS OF DEC 1952 & FOLIO 1 & 2 (unpublished)
MARCH 28th
The launch of THE LOUNGE SERIES by private invitation only
Free Improvisation - 5pm onwards
Steve Beresford, Sharon Gal voice, Ute Kanngieser cello, Tania piano, keyboards etc
MARCH 1st CAFE OTO
LIO: London Improvisers Orchestra
FEB 20th Guinardo area BARCELONA
Session with Christopher Williams bass, Tania playing stylophone, toy guitar, melodica toy piano, Juan Mattos-Capote circuit bending & electronics
FEB 17th Chez Pilar, by Sagrada Familia BARCELONA
Christopher Williams dbl bass, Tania piano, Michael Moser cello
FEB 6th Battersea Arts Centre
Free improvising: Tania Chen piano, David Leahy double bass, Dave Ryan clarinets
JAN 27th CAFE OTO
Free improvising: Tania Chen piano, John Edwards double bass, Dave Ryan clarinets, Bruce Coates saxophone
2008
JAN - APRIL
Continuation of Album recording
improvisers Steve Beresford, Glenn Nightingale, John Edwards, Mark Sanders, Tania Chen, Tom Arthurts Sept - Dec 2007
MAY 24th Filming
FILM INSTALLATION & PREMIERE with Jane Parker (film) & Joan Keys (composition)
Artist Joan Keys is interested in the physical performative translation of graphic notation, she has created a painting realised as a graphic score. This will be performed and premiered by Tania Chen and filmed in London by noted experimental film maker Jane Parker.
OCT 9th CAFE OTO
Piano premiere of graphic score by Joan Keys at Cafe Oto as part of a Piano evening with Tania Chen, Chris Butler, Pat Thomas
NOV 20th CAFE OTO
Tania Chen: Schoenberg: Six Little Piano Pieces op.19 & Morton Feldman: Piano Piece 1964
Performers: Tania Chen, Steve Beresford & Sharon Gal, Pule Pheto & Steve Noble
DEC 7th Michael Parsons 70th Birthday Concert at The Warehouse
Free improvising with Tania Chen piano, Dave Ryan clarinets, Ian Mitchell clarinets
2007
JAN
BBC Radio 3 Broadcast of Cornelius Cardew & British Experimental Composers.
Tania Chen performed Cornelius Cardew’s Sonata’s 1, 2 & 3
MARCH
Composition of music to be recorded for album
MAY
18 hour Tate Modern Turbine Hall for THE LONG WEEKEND series Warhol/Cage/Satie.
performance of “Sleep” Installation of Andy Warhol film performance of Satie “Vexations” for piano, performers: John Giorno poetry, Michael Nyman, Tania Chen, Gavin Bryars
SEPT-DEC
Recording of album of music
Musicians:
Steve Beresford, Tom Arthurs, Alan Tomlinson, Mark Sanders,
John Edwards, Glenn Nightingale
2006
19 February, Bridewell Hall, London
John Tilbury's 70th Birthday Concert
Free Improvisation with ensemble performers Simon Allen (percussion), Tania Chen (piano), Simon Allen (dulcimer), Dave Ryan (clarinet)
Premiere of piano music by Michael Parsons and Arnold Schoenberg
Tania Chen solo piano: Michael Parsons, 2006: Oblique Pieces VI & VII, Schoenberg / trans. Michael Parsons, 2005: The Book of the Hanging Gardens Nos. 5 & 13
May: Cornelius Cardew
2005
COMMERCIAL RECORDINGS:
CD release of "Ointment" - Steve Beresford and Tania Chen, Rossbin Production
CD recording of Michael Parsons "Hanging Gardens" Schoenberg Transcriptions
CD recording of Slonimsky's "51 Minitudes For Piano"
RADIO INTERVIEWS:
Live Panel Discussion Frieze Art Fair October 23 Cecilia Wee with Tania Chen
2004
Sabbatical
2003
Improvising at the BONNINGTON CENTRE
March: KETTLESYARD GALLERY
April: OXFORD CONTEMPORARY MUSIC FESTIVAL
May: FREEDOM OF THE CITY
May: ARTS COUNCIL TOUR
June: Co-hosting of VETO SHOW
July 17: WHITECHAPEL ART GALLERY, "LIPSTICK"
August 2003-March 2004: recording of albums with ANDREW POPPY
August/September: LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS
September: BRICKLANE CARPARK
JULY 2003-APRIL 2004 - FILM & SOUND PROJECTS:
October: LATE NOTES SERIES, BRISTOL.
December 13: WAREHOUSE: CORNELIUS CARDEW ANNIVERSARY
2002
10-12 January 2002, Gale Gates, Dumbo, Brooklyn, NEW YORK
13-15 February 2002, The Tramway GLASGOW
20-22 March 2002, New Music Festival, Innsbruck, AUSTRIA
7 May 2002, Adrian Boult Hall, BIRMINGHAM
17 May 2002, The Warehouse
August-September 2002, Berlin - Hamburger Bahnhoff, Stuttgart, Kasel, GERMANY
22nd September 7.30pm 2002 SOUTHBANK CENTRE
Autumn 2002, Purcell Room, LONDON
14 November, 2002 The Warehouse
1999-2001
November 1999, Dal Niente Projects,
March 2000, Fukuoka
May 2000,BMIC
June 2000, Ensemble RRRRRR…
October 2000, SONOROUS PROCESSES
January 2001, Southbank Centre
March 2001, The SPACE
April 2001, APARTMENT HOUSE
May 2001, Ensemble RRRRR…BMIC
May 2001, Hungarian Cultural Institute
May 2001, 291 Gallery
October 2001, CUTTING EDGE SERIES at the Warehouse BMIC
November 2001, PLANET TREE FESTIVAL Conway Hall/Purcell Room
November 2001, COCHRANE THEATRE
December 2001, St Cyprians, Baker St. LONDON
Cornelius Cardew: Piano Sonatas
Michael Parsons: Pieces for Piano
Tania Chen
Buy on iTunes or buy the CD from Amazon
John Cage: Music of Changes Books I-IV
Tania Chen
Buy on ITUNES or buy the CD from AMAZON
"Raw and incandescent" - The Wire
"Tania Chen excels, bringing these strange, austere and glacially beautiful "sounding events" to startling life" - The Guardian
“Music of great austerity and beauty – glacial and impassive, and yet requiring virtuosic concentration and execution” - David Ryan
Ointment
” ‘Ointment’ will both soothe and alarm you. Tania Chen and Steve Beresford coax a galaxy of timbres from toys and unidentified objects to produce a series of astonishing tableaux.” - Jonathan Bohman
Free improvisation by Tania Chen and Steve Beresford