I deem myself the World's Greatest Music Appreciator for the simple reason that playing an instrument has never quite worked out for me.
My hands were too uncoordinated for piano and my fingers, too weak for guitar. Eventually I gave up on my dream of becoming a rock star.
And then I got an email from Brisbane Powerhouse..."If you're a fan of jazz, folk, electronica and experimental music, then toy music might just be your next passion", I read.
Toy what? Music?
Toy music? (Hmmm… Come to think of it, I
was pretty good at the recorder in primary school. I could keep a mad beat with the triangle. And don't even get me started on the maracas!)
The Festival of Toy Music is presented by
Brisbane Powerhouse and Clocked Out, one of Australia's most innovative contemporary music and interarts projects.
Featuring American toy pianist
Margaret Leng Tan and one of Aurtalia's most prolific and varied music artists,
Adam Simmons, the festival will blend musical talent with quirky and clever toy instruments to create songs and soundscapes unlike any other.
There are workshops too. And they're not just for children!
Play tin whistle games with multi-instrumentalist
Matthew Horlsey. Make a music box with Adam Simmons to play and keep (mine's going straight to the Pool Room), or perform in the Dream Percussion installation that will take over the Turbine Platform for the festival.
Immerse yourself in a day of tiny pianos, melodicas, plastic accordions, bicycle bells, tin whistles, spinning tops and a collection of circuit-bent toys…
And if you see someone rocking out on a ukulele or being escorted out by Powerhouse security guards for trying to crowd-surf off the Turbine Platform... that's probably me.
#YOLO
