Sean Chen Van Cliburn Winners.

"million-volt smile" and a "formidable set of fingers" (Dallas Morning


News).

In 2013 Chen won the American Pianists Association's DeHaan


Classical Fellowship, one of the most lucrative and significant prizes


available to an American pianist; he also won Third Prize at the 14th


Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, becoming the first American


to reach the finals since 1997. He received Second Prize at the 2011


Seoul International Music Competition, Third Prize at the 2013 Morocco


Philharmony International Piano Competition, Best Performance of an


American Work at the 2009 Cleveland International Piano Competition, and


he was a semifinalist at the 2012 Leeds International Piano


Competition.

The 25-year-old American pianist has appeared as


soloist with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra under Gerard Schwarz,


Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra under Leonard Slatkin, Indianapolis


Chamber Orchestra, Suwon City Philharmonic, New West Symphony, and the


Juilliard Orchestra. He has performed solo recitals under the auspices


of the McGraw-Hill Company, New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, New West


Symphony, National Chopin Foundation, Scriabin Society, Ventura Music


Festival, and the Young Artist Guild of the Music Teachers Association


of California. He has performed new works by Lisa Bielawa, Michael


Williams, Nicco Athens, Michael Gilbertson, and Reinaldo Moya, among


others. Upcoming CD releases include an album of Michael Williams's solo


piano works on the Parma label, live recordings from the Cliburn


competition, and a solo recording on the Steinway label as part of his


American Pianists Association prize.

Born in 1988 in Margate, FL,


Chen grew up in the Los Angeles area of Oak Park, CA. His impressive


achievements before college included receiving an NFAA ARTSweek award, a


prize at the California International Young Artist Competition, the Los


Angeles Music Center's Spotlight Award, the Evelyn Bonar Storrs


Scholarship, and the Glenn Miller Scholarship. These honors combined


with his extraordinary intellect facilitated offers of acceptance by


MIT, Harvard, and the Juilliard School; choosing to study music, Chen


earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees at Juilliard, where he won


the 2010 Gina Bachauer Piano Competition, the 2010 Munz Scholarship, and


first prize at the 2008 Juilliard Concerto Competition. While attending


Juilliard, Chen was the recipient of a notable third-party scholarship:


the 2010 Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans.

Chen


is currently pursuing his Artist Diploma at the Yale School of Music as a


George W. Miles Fellowship recipient. He is studying with Hung-Kuan


Chen and Tema Blackstone, and his former teachers include Jerome


Lowenthal, Matti Raekallio, and Edward Francis. Chen's performances have


been broadcast live on From the Top, American Public Media's


Performance Today, WQXR (New York), WGBH (Boston), and WFYI


(Indianapolis). The webcast of his April 2013 performance of Bartók's


Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Indianapolis Symphony – which, according


to International Piano, "blazed with color and excitement" – can be


viewed at americanpianists.org.


When not at the piano, Chen enjoys tinkering with computers and


composing. In the coming seasons, he will be performing under the


management of the American Pianists Association, touring the U.S. and


presenting recitals worldwide.