Sean Chen
Host - Sounds Like with Sean ChenA “thoughtful musician well beyond his years” (The Republic), pianist Sean Chen shares his “alluring, colorfully shaded renditions” (New York Times) and “genuinely sensitive” (LA Times) playing with audiences around the world in solo and chamber recitals, concerto performances, and masterclasses, after having won the 2013 American Piano Awards, placing third at the 2013 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, and being named a 2015 Annenberg Fellow. Mr. Chen is the Jack Strandberg/Missouri Endowed Chair Associate Professor of Piano at the UMKC Conservatory.
Mr. Chen resides in the suburbs of Kansas City with his wife, Betty, a violinist in the Kansas City Symphony, and their daughters Ella and Maeve. When not at the piano, Mr. Chen enjoys tinkering with computers, and exploring math, science, and programming. Mr. Chen is a Steinway Artist and is managed by Jonathan Wentworth Associates, Ltd.
More at seanchenpiano.com.
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For the music he composed to accompany our droid friends C-3PO and R2-D2 as they wander the Dune Sea on the planet Tatooine, John Williams was clearly inspired by the bleakness of Igor Stravinsky's “Sacrifice” movement from the Rite of Spring. -
Billy Joel has called classical music "the girl next door," but he ended up being seduced by a rock-n-roll temptress. -
The "Lament Bass” is a descending bassline that has evoked deep sadness and mourning for pretty much all of music history. -
Sometimes the hardest part of writing a piece of music is getting started, but maybe the most important thing is how you end. -
Did you ever pass a love note to your crush in school? Classical composers like Robert Schumann have been known to do the same thing, but with their music. -
When you pair together musical "hamburgers" and "hotdogs," it can be easier to make sense of difficult rhythmic phrases. -
An odd, three-note notification sound for a credit card machine is reminiscent of a famously difficult piano concerto. -
Did George Gershwin have Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 on the brain when he composed his “experiment in modern music,” Rhapsody in Blue? -
Composer Olivier Messiaen studied with Paul Dukas, who once told him to “listen to the birds! They are great teachers.” Messiaen clearly agreed, and took a deep dive into ornithology and the study and transcription of bird song. -
Gustav Holst’s influence on John Williams is undeniable. Discover how Holst and Williams use music to evoke the vastness of space, or impending danger from a Roman god of war, or a dark side Sith lord.
