Toy Piano Festival
Since 2000, the UC San Diego Library has hosted a Toy Piano Festival on or around September 5 to honor the birthday of John Cage, the first composer to write a “serious” work for toy pianos. This year’s festival will feature the Queen of Boogie-Woogie, Sue Palmer, who returns to the stage to perform an excellent array of toy piano pieces in addition to several other UC San Diego alumni composers. In honor of the event’s 15th anniversary, a special award will be presented to nearby music store, La Jolla Music, for their years supporting the local community’s musical and instrumental needs.
The toy piano collection at Geisel Library consists of actual instruments, commissioned scores, and extant literature and recordings. In May of 2001, the Library of Congress issued a subject heading and call number for toy piano scores because of the activities of the Toy Piano Collection at Geisel Library.
Performers and composers include Sue Palmer, Scott Paulson, Christian Hertzog, Kenneth Herman, Ryoko Amadee Goguen, and Ellen Lawson.