Phyllis Chen will perform on the toy piano in the Saint Vincent College Concert Series at 8 p.m. Saturday, November 1, in the Robert S. Carey Student Center Performing Arts Center. She will be performing Johann Sebastian Bach’s Partita No. 4 in D Major, BWV 828, Franz Schubert-Franz Liszt’s Gretchen am Spinnrade, Stephen Montague’s Mirabella, Andrián Pertout’s Exposiciones, Leos Janácek’s Excerpts from “On an Overgrown Path,” John Cage’s Suite for Toy Piano and Julia Wolfe’s East Broadway.

Phyllis Chen’s artistic pursuits take her in numerous directions as a toy pianist, pianist, composer and performance artist, leading to her selection as a New Music/New Places Fellow at the 2007 Concert Artists Guild International Competition. Since discovering the toy piano, Ms. Chen has become a trailblazer, performing original multi-media compositions using toy pianos, electronics and video, and works by prominent 20th century composers such as John Cage and Julia Wolfe. She has also been recognized for her classical pianism with numerous national honors, including the International Bartok/Kabalevsky Piano Competition, the Stravinsky Awards, National Coleman Chamber Music Competition, and others. Phyllis Chen, a native of Blacksburg, Virginia, hosts her own radio program, The Toad’s Wart, on Indiana University’s radio station WIUX-LP, as she completes her D.M.A. in piano performance under the tutelage of André Watts.

Single tickets for the concert are $20 and the “Classic Evening” dinner and concert package can be purchased for $35. Tickets can be reserved and purchased by calling 724-805-2565.

Future performances in the 2008-2009 Saint Vincent College Concert Series season will be Woods Tea Company, Nov. 22; New York Chamber Soloists – Four Winds, Feb. 7; Daria Rabotkina, piano, March 14; Carducci String Quartet, April 4; and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, May 2.

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