pianomania: A JAZZ PIANO RECITAL NOT TO MISS: UMWELTEN BY TZE TOH on 20 June 2026

A JAZZ PIANO RECITAL NOT TO MISS:

UMWELTEN

BY TZE TOH on 20 June 2026

For the first time, local jazz pianist Tze Toh of TO Ensemble will perform a solo recital. Usually sharing the stage with artists like jazz saxophonist Teo Boon Chye and Carnatic violinist Lazar T.Sebastine, Tse has the floor to his own this time. At Esplanade’s Black Room on Saturday 20 June, his solo recital titled Umwelten is inspired by the life of simple organisms and how they adapt to the environments on our planet.

Streifzuge durch die Umwelten von Tieren und Menschen or A Foray into the Worlds of Animals and Humans by Baltic German biologist Johann Jakob von Uexkull (1864-1944) is the book that brought Tze into this deep dive manifested in the compositions of his recital. Motifs that are explored in his pieces are regarded like single-cell organisms, which develop a life of their own, divide by mitosis and become multi-cellular. These motifs are the building blocks of music, like cells which are the basic constitution of any living thing.

In a preview at the recording studio in Bukit Batok, Tze demonstrated how his pieces opened and developed into stand-alone works. These carry titles like Anemone, A Star Is Born, Sentio, Here With Me, Time, Machines That Fly and 12 Dimensions on Strings in Theory. These are varied, interesting and at times, thought provoking. There are themes and variations, passacaglias, and simple prayer-like meditations. Tze’s influences are many, including the works of J.S.Bach, Ryuichi Sakamoto, New Age minimalism, Carnatic and gospel music just to name a few. Curious to explore more?