Written for GRAMMY® Award-winning pianist Nadia Shpachenko and her Cal Poly Pomona Piano Ensemble, Three Miniatures for Toy Piano and Piano explores the playful, fragile, and unexpectedly poignant sound world of the toy piano. Across three concise movements, the work contrasts the toy piano’s bright, percussive timbre with the resonance and depth of the modern grand piano. Each miniature inhabits its own character: from sparkling, music-box delicacy to sly rhythmic interplay, and finally to a reflective, almost childlike nostalgia. Rather than treating the toy piano as a novelty, the piece seeks to reveal its unique voice—at times whimsical, at times haunting—framed within textures that blur the line between charm and sophistication.
