Claudia Chen

Claudia Chen enjoys an active career as performer and teacher. Making her solo debut with the Denver Symphony Orchestra at age 14, Ms. Chen has gone on to perform as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Canada, Eastern Europe and Chile. Equally at home in contemporary works as in standard repertoire, Ms. Chen has given numerous premieres of solo and chamber works by several American and Canadian composers. She has been a guest at the Grand Teton Music Festival, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Minnesota Orchestra Sommerfest. She has performed at Bowdoin Festival in the USA; Contrasts International Contemporary Music Festival in Ukraine; Agassiz Chamber Music Festival and Centara International New Music Festival in Canada. Her performances have been aired nationally in Canada on CBC Radio; Polish Radio and Television; and in the USA on National Public Radio. With her husband, cellist Arek Tesarczyk, the duo has given numerous recitals in the U.S., Canada, Chile and Poland. She has served on the jury of several competitions: GTCYS, YPSCA, and WAMSO in Minnesota; The Fischoff Chamber Music Competition; MTNA West Central Division piano competition and the National Chamber Music Competition. Her dedication to teaching has been reflected in the number of students who have been accepted to music schools in Canada and the USA, including Yale School of Music, New England Conservatory, and Thornton School of Music. Her students have held fellowships at prestigious music festivals such as The Yellowbarn Young Artist Program, the Tanglewood Music Center, and the Madeline Island Piano and Chamber Music Program. Students have also been accepted to the Bowdoin Music Festival, the Oberlin Conservatory Music Festival and the Brevard Music Festival. 

Claudia has served on the faculty of the Univ. of Manitoba in Canada, and currently teaches at Macalester College in Saint Paul, as well as privately in her home. She received degrees from the Peabody Conservatory of Music, where she was the recipient of the Rose-Marie Milholland Prize; and University of Minnesota. She has worked with Julian Martin, Leon Fleisher, Lydia Artymiw, John Perry and Margo Garrett.