{"id":1019942,"date":"2026-01-12T22:01:47","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T22:01:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/?p=466479"},"modified":"2026-01-12T22:01:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T22:01:47","slug":"the-most-spine-tingling-way-to-celebrate-spooky-season-is-a-toy-piano-concert-in-a-catacomb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/the-most-spine-tingling-way-to-celebrate-spooky-season-is-a-toy-piano-concert-in-a-catacomb\/","title":{"rendered":"The most spine-tingling way to celebrate spooky season is a toy piano concert in a catacomb"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In a city as bustling as New York, it\u2019s easy to become a bit numb to cacophony. Fourteen years in, however, and I found something I had never experienced before: a full concert performed on toy pianos and various bric-a-brac percussion in a narrow catacomb dug atop a hill at an otherwise pin-drop-quiet cemetery in the heart of south Brooklyn.<\/p>\n

For nearly a decade, Green-Wood Cemetery<\/a> has hosted a series of concerts in its 30-vault catacomb. The burial site was initially constructed in the 1850s for those who wanted to be buried above ground but couldn\u2019t afford their own mausoleum.<\/p>\n

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The tunnel itself is fairly unassuming, void of inlet carvings save for a skylight at the far end, with each of the vaults loosely enclosed with their own metal gate and the occasional family name above an entranceway. (One notable adornment was a Daughters of the American Revolution crest to the left of an otherwise unmarked entrance.) Walking through it today, you can still make out several of the big names above these breakout rooms \u2014 Ferguson, Piro, and Herrmann, to name a few \u2014 with the rest otherwise unmarked from the main entranceway.<\/p>\n

I might\u2019ve been able to make out more details during the daytime, but I entered the cemetery long after nightfall to see Curios in the Catacombs<\/em><\/a>, a performance piece by avant-garde artist<\/a> Margaret Leng Tan<\/a>. When I arrived, Tan and her team were setting up for their second and final show of the night. The tunnel was awash in a purple glow from a scattering of floor lights, save for the entranceway, which had additional illumination from a projection of a vintage clown photograph.<\/p>\n

There were three makeshift stages in the middle of the tunnel flanked by 50 or so seats in all. Farthest down and just in front of the Piro vault there was a baby grand piano that was maybe a few feet tall at most \u2014 many of Tan\u2019s toy pianos are custom made, she told me later. The sense of scale was disorienting, to say nothing of the location. Several more toy pianos were eventually brought out, as well as a wind-up music box, a children\u2019s toy phone, various masks, and other accouterments I could barely describe, much less guess how they\u2019d be used in the show.<\/p>\n

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I took my seat as the crowd came in, ferried from the entrance on a trolley. After several minutes of folks slowly finding their spots, all trying to steal a glance into each vault along the way, the room quieted down, and Tan began her performance of Curios in the Catacombs<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Any description of the performance won\u2019t do it much service. But to come close, I suggest you watch this video, and I\u2019ll just say: \u201cIt\u2019s this, but so, so<\/em> much more.\u201d<\/p>\n

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