Soloist

Sean Chen, Piano

Hailed as a charismatic rising star, 28-year-old American pianist Sean Chen was third prize winner at the 2013 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and recipient of the DeHaan Classical Fellowship as the winner of the 2013 American Pianists Awards. Sean was also named a 2015 fellow by the prestigious Leonore Annenberg Fellowship Fund for the Performing Arts.

He has performed with many prominent orchestras, including the Fort Worth, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, North Carolina, Phoenix, San Diego, Santa Fe, Tucson, and New West Symphony Orchestras, collaborating with such esteemed conductors as Leonard Slatkin, Gerard Schwarz, Nicholas McGegan, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, and James Judd. Solo recitals have brought him to major venues worldwide, including Jordan Hall in Boston, Subculture in New York City, the American Art Museum at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., the National Concert Hall in Taipei, Het Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and the Salle Cortot in Paris.

 He has visited on a longer term basis institutions such as the Cleveland School of Music, Indiana University, University of British Columbia, Spotlight Awards at the Los Angeles Music Center, Young Artist World Piano Festival, and several Music Teachers’ Associations throughout the country as either a masterclass teacher or resident artist.

Mr. Chen has been featured in both live and recorded performances on WFMT (Chicago), WGBH (Boston), WQXR (New York), NPR’s From the Top, and American Public Media’s Performance Today. His CD releases include La Valse, a solo recording on the Steinway label; a live recording from the Cliburn Competition released by harmonia mundi; and an album of Michael Williams’s solo piano works on the Parma label. Mr. Chen has also contributed to the catalog of Steinway’s new Spirio system, and is a Steinway Artist.

A multifaceted musician, Mr. Chen also transcribes, composes, and improvises. His transcription of Ravel’s La Valse has been received with glowing acclaim. An advocate of new music, he has also collaborated with several composers and performed their works, including Lisa Bielawa, Michael Williams, Nicco Athens, Michael Gilbertson, and Reinaldo Moya.

Born in Florida, Mr. Chen grew up in the Los Angeles area of Oak Park, California and earned his Bachelor and Master of Music from Juilliard. He received his Artist Diploma in 2014 at the Yale School of Music as a George W. Miles Fellow. His teachers have included Hung-Kuan Chen, Tema Blackstone, Edward Francis, Jerome Lowenthal, and Matti Raekallio.

Mr. Chen is currently living in Kansas City, Missouri with his wife, Betty, who plays violin in the Kansas City Symphony. When not at the piano, Mr. Chen enjoys tinkering with computers.