Date/Time
Date(s) - 25/Jun/2023
Genre - Piano recitals
The Silk Road
A Tale of Musical Trade between East and West
A lecture recital
Chelsea de Souza, piano
In a programme of Claude Debussy: Pagodes from Estampes, Reflets dans l’eau from Images Bk. I, Toru Takemitsu: Rain-Tree Sketch, Frédéric Chopin: Preludes Op. 28, Nos. 15 (Raindrop) and 16, Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji: In the Hothouse and Reena Esmail: Rang de Basant
Known for her dynamic artistry and thought-provoking recital programming, Indian pianist Chelsea de Souza is a Steinway Young Artist equally at home in the worlds of traditional and new music. Described as “fierce and focused” (rediff), with “an alluring stage presence” (The Hindu), she has appeared in concert as a soloist and chamber musician across the US, Belgium, France, Germany and India, and performed live on NBC TV and Kansas Public Radio. 2022-23 season highlights include recitals for Minnesota Orchestra’s summer season, Houston Methodist’s Center for Performing Arts Medicine, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Menil Collection and Cypress Creek FACE; performances with New York City Ballet principal dancer Tiler Peck for Artists at the Center; presentations at the 2023 National Opera Association Conference; and a commissioning Project Grant from New Music USA and the world premiere of a new work by composer Nicky Sohn.
A consummate chamber musician as well, Chelsea has performed at La Jolla Summerfest and as a Young Artist Fellow with the DACAMERA Chamber Music and Jazz Series in Houston. She has collaborated with award-winning groups “Alarm Will Sound” and the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, and the contemporary ensembles at Oberlin Conservatory, the Peabody Institute and the Shepherd School. A committed performer of music by living composers, she has commissioned and premiered numerous works for solo piano and small ensemble at museums, colleges and festivals across the US. Together with her sister, soprano and pianist Chloe de Souza, she has given recital and masterclass tours across several cities in India.
Growing up in Mumbai, Chelsea’s musical roots were grounded in a blend of western classical and popular styles. Now she strives to explore issues of identity and culture in her performances through her versatile, genre-defying artistry. She was part of Oberlin’s Performance and Improvisation Series exploring jazz and world music for two years, including a Young Artist Residency with the Detroit String and Wind Society and performances at Cleveland Orchestra’s Severance Hall. She currently tours with Dr. Jolie Rocke with their one singer-one pianist production of “Singing Herstory”, which pays homage to fourteen pioneering female African-American performers.
Chelsea draws inspiration from the diverse artists she has worked with, including classical greats such as Leon Fleisher, Andras Schiff and Richard Goode, Grammy-award winning popular groups like the Punch Brothers and Snarky Puppy, and international musicians like Israeli jazz pianist-composer Alon Yavnai and Palestinian-American oud player Simon Shaheen. Her recent grant from New Music USA for her project “Blurred Origins: Redefining Culture through Music” funds the commission of a new work for cello and piano that refocuses discussions of culture around the individual, with particular emphasis on Asian-American voices. A singer as well, Chelsea was co-director of Oberlin’s longest-running all-female a cappella group ‘Nothing But Treble’.
A finalist of the 2021 Concert Artists Guild Emerging Artist Competition, Chelsea has won four All-India piano competitions, the IIYM International Piano Competition, the Oberlin Concerto Competition, the Global Scholar-Education World Young Achievers Award in Music and Arts, and second prizes at the 2020 Young Texas Artists and the 2019 Cranbrook Music Guild Emerging Artist competitions. She holds Bachelor’s degrees in Politics and in Piano Performance and Vocal Accompanying from Oberlin College and Conservatory, where she studied with Peter Takàcs, and a Master’s degree from the Peabody Institute of Music with Boris Slutsky. She is now pursuing her doctorate at the Shepherd School of Rice University with Jon Kimura Parker, where she also teaches classes in music theory and hybrid music of the Indian diaspora. In her spare time, Chelsea loves exploring cultures through experimenting in the kitchen, just as she does at the piano.