Currently

The Toy Boats | (2006 – Present) Steven Arntson (Concertina), Anne Mathews (Ukulele, Melodica), Paul Kikuchi (Toy Percussion), Tiffany Lin (Toy Piano, Melodica)

The Toy Boats are a Seattle-based quartet of toy- and small-instrument players. Wielding a unique repertoire that encompasses original compositions as well as compelling cinematic arrangements of traditional Eastern European and world folk music, the group focuses on creating a mesmerizing, delicate acoustic experience in unorthodox venues – libraries, public fountains, bicycle trails, historical museums, pet funerals and more. The Toy Boats’ four musicians represent a diverse range of performance experience, comprising experimental-music ensembles, jazz groups, radical marching bands, stripping bananas, professional choirs, concert piano and solo concertina performance, and old-time C&W bands.

Tiny Song Series #1: Joplin+Tiflin | (Current)
Tiffany Lin (Arranger, Toy Piano)

Order based performances delivered by mail consisting of arrangements of Scott Joplin piano rag times for toy piano(s). Recorded onto cassette recorder the order requests will culminate into an album released on cassette and vinyl. Order forms available @ blog.

Crosstalk | (2009-Current)
Jesse Canterbury (Clarinets), Tiffany Lin, (Piano), Brian Cobb (Bass), Paul Kikuchi (Drumset)

This new group uses original compositions and improvisation to explore the jazz and creative music genres. Consisting of four unique members drawing from diverse backgrounds such as jazz, rock, classical music, and sound art. Crosstalk evokes such disparate influences as Charles Ives, John Luther Adams, and clarinetist Michael Moore.

Previously

This Old Piano | (Jan. – Jun. 2010)
Tiffany Lin (Artistic Director, Performer), Joel Kikuchi (Woodworker), Tom Baker (Composer), Jherek Bischoff (Composer), Colin Ernst (Instrument Designer), Hugo Solis (Instrument Designer)

This Old Piano is a transformation, where single pianos are deconstructed and designed into new instruments. Headed by pianist Tiffany Lin and wood worker Joel Kikuchi, This Old Piano commissioned two instrument designers and two composers to collaborate and design, develop, compose for, and exhibit two new instruments. Each instrument is built from the constituent parts of a single free piano.

*With support from The Seattle Mayors Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, Jack Straw Productions, 4Culture, & The Allied Arts Foundation.

Three Parts for Two Boats | 2011 | Ranjit Bhatnagar (Sound Artist), Tiffany Lin (Piano) | 4.15.11 Gallery 1412, Seattle, WA | 5.6.11 The Stone, NYC

Three Parts for Two Boats is a collaboration for piano, toy player pianos, electronics, ferries, and violin. Discovered mainly by gathering the explorations of Seattle pianist Tiffany Lin and Brooklyn sound artist Ranjit Bhatnagar, this watery piece encircles ferry passages from the Puget Sound and the New York Harbor.

Constructed over the soundscapes of the two ferries, the piece incorporates the whistles and bird songs of modified vintage toy player pianos, complex lush rhythms on magnetically-augmented piano, and the drone of a home-built 8-bit violin.

Has Fallen into the Well (Jan. 2010)

A visual and audio piece exploring my habit of adaptation, working with memories and objects I had on hand the box represents “fulfilling imagination” in rooms with white walls. The piece is a paper-constructed box bolted to the wall with bottom hole for the viewer to “step into the box.” An original sound installation using audio from the book Tiki Tiki Tembo plays inside the box. This piece premiered as part of “Farewell,” (January 20, 2010 to March 07, 2010 ) held in conjunction with Spectrum Dance Theatre’s initiative Beyond Dance: Promoting Awareness and Mutual Understanding. The exhibition coincided with the world premiere of FAREWELL: A Fantastical Contemplation on America’s Relationship with China at The Moore Theatre February 18-20, 2010.

The Moveable Type | | (Premiered Apr. 2010)
Tiffany Lin (Piano) , Zachary Watkins (Composer), Ranjit Bahatnagar (Instrument Builder)

Moveable, long commutes between loved ones, music for motors and resonant strings is the elusive yet evocative title for the new composition by bay area composer Zachary James Watkins. This new evening length work is scored for retuned piano and a new mechanical extension called the Piano Monster built by NYC artist Ranjit Bhatnagar that uses 16 MIDI triggered voltage controlled motors with attached objects that resonate piano strings.

*With support from Subito California Grant and the Nonsequitor Music Series

Piano Racket @#! | March 13, 2009
Tiffany Lin (Pianos, Toy Piano)

Piano Racket: Music for the Unconventional Piano, a concert featuring solo music for prepared piano, string piano, re-tuned piano, and toy pianos. The program features premieres of Byron Au Yong’s Flirt and Kraig Grady’s Corroded Communes. Also: John Cage’s Daughters of the Lonesome Isle, Lois V. Vierk’s To Stare Astonished at the Sea, Miracle Ear by David Lang, We Want Production by Zach Watkins, and A Little Christmas Suite by George Crumb.

*With support from Washington’s Artist Trust GAP Grant and The Seattle Office of Arts and Affairs SmArt Ventures Grant

Getting Together with Sticky Labels | Nov. 10, 2007
Tiffany Lin (Piano), Motoko Honda (Piano)

What if three metal rulers, lots of little sticky labels, electrical tape, oversized scores, twenty fingers and four forearms got together? Pianists Tiffany Lin (Seattle) and Motoko Honda (Los Angeles) in their debut performance as a duo have programmed an evening of four-hand piano music featuring George Crumb’s Celestial Mechanics, from his Makrokosmos cycle, plus a set of Játékok (Games) for four hands by Hungarian composer György Kurtág, music for toy piano and melodica, and Debussy’s Six Épigraphes Antiques.