ALEX CHEN
Piano, Voice & Art Song
I am a collaborative pianist, baritone, and zoologically-trained nature lover. With an artistic practice that encompasses Baroque coloratura, misty Debussy piano passages, and advocacy for nature, I am ready to bring fresh perspectives to your next collaboration!
On faculty and the Victoria Conservatory of Music, I coach singers and pianists of diverse backgrounds and regularly perform in recitals, competitions, and festivals.
My work & Collaborations
With support from Canada Council for the Arts, I am releasing the 2024 short film Green with Gay4Nature. Based on Debussy’s Ariettes oubliées, the work explores queer and ecological resonances in the art song repertoire.
February 2024 saw the Ocean Wise release of my composition The Adventures of Kelp Creature, a whimsical musical narrative about the kelp forests of Salish Sea.
In May 2024, I will be performing J.S. Bach’s Coffee Cantata in the cafés of Downtown Victoria with support from the City of Victoria.
Recent highlights also include solo voice performances in J.S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio (Victoria Philharmonic Choir) & Trauerode (American Bach Festivals, San Francisco) and Charpentier’s Missa Assumpta est Maria (Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Festival).
Other notable projects include The Citizen Soundscape with BC Culture Days and Chinese art song repertoire development with pianist Jialiang Zhu.
ARts Leadership
Since 2020, I have fostered skills in arts leadership, production, and administration through the Association for Opera in Canada’s RBC Future Launch & Opera Artists Resilience programs and the Belfry Theatre’s Art Leadership Program. Work with Pacific Opera Victoria and re:Naissance Opera in administrative and producer capacities have further developed my portfolio of skills.
I co-founded the Gay4Nature Collective in 2023 with soprano Anna-Bigland Pritchard to spearhead ecological and queer interpretations of classical music. Thriving in cross-disciplinary collaborations, I also forged project partnerships with organizations like Ocean Wise, BC Culture Days, and Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.
