“After my living a long life with the Rachmaninoff 3rd, it took this youthful musician to show me
the most imaginative and compelling performance of the work I have ever heard.“
Henry Upper, The Republic
Be inspired on a beautiful Spring afternoon in Foxburg for the opening classical concert of ARCA’s 20th Anniversary Season on Sunday, March 30 at 2 PM in Lincoln Hall with the virtuosity & eloquent storytelling of SEAN CHEN, pianist / composer / arranger, who came to international prominence at the age of 24 as Bronze Medalist in the the Van Cliburn Piano Competition and the Winner of the American Pianists Award. ARCA’s “2025 Dr. Arthur D. Steffee Pianist”, Sean Chen will perform a tour-de-force program of Romantic masterworks on the Lincoln Hall Steinway followed by an audience meet and greet and Q & A with this warm and personable artist.
Hailed for his interpretive depth, tender lyricism and virtuosity, Allegheny RiverStone Center for the Arts is proud to bring back this young genius who will perform a program of four Chopin Ballades with his improvised interludes connecting them, Nikolai Medtner’s Sonata-Tale, op. 25, #1, Franz Liszt Tre sonetti di Petrarca and Sean Chen’s transcription of Paul Dukas The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Sean’s transcription of this popular symphonic work is a family friendly work made popular by Disney’s Fantasia in its multiple versions; it will be a hit with students who have FREE admission, with tickets for parents or accompanying adults half price – $15.
In Sean Chen’s magnificent Lincoln Hall performance in 2023, this Van Cliburn and American Pianists Award winner received two standing ovations from the sold out house: Before intermission AND following the concert, as the audience roared and leapt to its feet in a long standing ovation – a love-fest between artist and audience made more special by the intimacy of Lincoln Hall.
Like legendary keyboard artists of past generations who took audiences on an inner journey, young pianist SEAN CHEN claimed that tradition as poet and weaver of musical tales, running the emotional spectrum with lyricism and virtuosity.
As genuine and warm as Sean Chen is brilliantly talented, Dr. Arthur and Marybeth Steffee loved his performances both in Lincoln Hall and at a reception following the concert. They were eager to bring Sean back to Foxburg – which ARCA is honored to do in its 20th Anniversary Season as the “2025 Dr. Arthur D. Steffee Pianist”.
You will be delighted by the rich personal insights in Sean’s program commentary, introducing the audience to the composers he will be performing.
Most interesting will be his introduction to his own transcription of the Dukas “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” – which young audiences remember from Disney’s Fantasia. Sean Chen also will meet and greet the audience at the front of Lincoln Hall after the concert for a Question & Answer personal engagement.
Take a break from the hustle and bustle – Turn down the World – and Turn up the WONDER!
This is a concert not to be missed – World class artistry right here in Foxburg on the beautiful Allegheny.
Tickets are Adults $30, Members $25, Students are FREE and Accompanying adults and Parents are HALF PRICE – $15
Call 724 659-3153 to reserve and pay by cash or check at the door – or buy online here.
Reach out to all the young piano, band and music students you know and invite them to attend. Children are FREE with accompanying adults pay HALF PRICE – or $15.
A father of two young children himself, Sean Chen’s delightful arrangement of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice – well known to children from Disney’s Fantastia – will be a huge hit!
A composer himself, his transcriptions of orchestral works including The Sorcerer’s Apprentice he will perform for ARCA’s audience on March 30, Ravel’s La Valse, Mozart’s Overture to The Marriage of Figaro, and the Adagio from Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2, and his transcriptions of the Symphony No. 9 Finale Presto have been received with glowing acclaim and enthusiasm, and his encore improvisations are lauded as “genuinely brilliant” (Dallas Morning News).
From the fiery pyrotechnics of Rachmaninoff to the delicate filigree of Nikolai Medtner, critics have been unanimous: “Los Angeles native Sean Chen has the rare ability to combine poetic musical sensibilities and dazzling technical prowess... coaxing subtle and surprising colors and textures from each work.”
— Paula Edelstein, LA Music Examiner (April 23, 2014)
Chantal Incandela of Nuvo wrote, “There aren’t enough superlatives for this young man. Moments of bold intensity gave way to those of a gentle tenderness that was breathtaking at times…”
On his March 30, 2025 program, Sean Chen will be performing Nikolai Medtner’s – Sonata-Tale, op. 25, #1 – heard here in Medtner’s “Primavera” (Spring).
The reviews have been superlative and unequaled in the biggest virtuosic repertoire: “… he delivered the most original and likely the best live performance I have ever experienced among the many such performances I have heard in my professional life.
(Brahms Piano Concerto #2).” (The Republic)
“After my living a long life with the Rachmaninoff 3rd, it took this youthful musician to show me the most imaginative and compelling performance of the work I have ever heard.“
Henry Upper, The Republic
American conductor, Gerard Schwarz, who guest conducted Chen with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra said, “The Bartók Concerto No. 2 that he played in the finals was stupendous. He brought this piece to life in a totally convincing way, and for me it was the best performance of this concerto that I have ever heard.”
A multifaceted musician, Sean. Chen also transcribes, composes, and improvises. He recently premiered his composition, Daydream No. 1 – Steps, commissioned as a gift for the retirement of American Pianists Association’s President/CEO.
His transcriptions of such orchestral works as Ravel’s La Valse, Mozart’s Overture to The Marriage of Figaro, and the Adagio from Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2, have been received with glowing acclaim and enthusiasm, and his encore improvisations are lauded as “genuinely brilliant” (Dallas Morning News), as has been this transcription of Leonard Bernstein’s stunning Overture to Candide.
In his program for the March 30 concert in Lincoln Hall, Sean will perform works by Chopin, Meitner, Liszt and his own transcription of Paul Dukas’ The Socerer’s Apprentice. In his Lincoln Hall performance in 2023, he performed his transcription of the final movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony that he had written for he celebration of Beethoven’s 250th birthday in 2020.
Tickets are Adults $30, Members $25 and Students and children FREE and parents/adults accompanying receive the Member’s price. Call 724 659-3153 to reserve and pay by cash or check at the door – or buy online here.
PROGRAM for Lincoln Hall-March 30
PROGRAM
4 Ballades Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
No. 1 in G Minor, op. 23
No. 2 in F Major, op. 38
No. 3 in Ab Major, op. 47
No 4. In F Minor, op. 52
— intermission –
Sonata-Tale, op. 25, #1 Nikolai Medtner (1880-1951)
- Allegro abbandonamente
II. Andantino con moto
III. Allegro con spirito
Tre sonetti di Petrarca Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Sonetto 47 del Petrarca in D♭ major
Sonetto 104 del Petrarca in E major
Sonetto 123 del Petrarca in A♭ major
L’Apprenti sorcier (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice) Paul Dukas (1865-1935)
(arr. by Sean Chen)
ABOUT THE ARTIST
A “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 winning the 2013 American Pianists Awards, winning the Bronze at the 2013 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, and being named a 2015 Annenberg Fellow, Mr. Chen is now a Millsap Artist in Residence at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory.
Mr. Chen has performed with many prominent orchestras, including the Fort Worth, Indianapolis, Kansas City, San Diego, Knoxville, Hartford, Louisiana Philharmonic, Milwaukee, North Carolina, Pasadena, Phoenix, Santa Fe, and New West Symphony Orchestras, as well as the Chamber Orchestras of Philadelphia, Indianapolis, and South Bay. He has collaborated with such esteemed conductors as Leonard Slatkin, Michael Stern, Gerard Schwarz, Nicholas McGegan, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Marcelo Lehninger, and James Judd. Solo recitals have brought him to major venues worldwide, including Jordan Hall in Boston, Subculture in New York City, the American Art Museum at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., the National Concert Hall in Taipei, Het Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and the Salle Cortot in Paris.
Mr. Chen has served on the juries of notable piano competitions, including the American Pianists Awards, Thailand International Piano Competition, West Virginia International Piano Competition, Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists, and Steinway competitions around the country. Given his natural inclination for teaching and approachable personality, Mr. Chen is particularly in demand for residencies that combine performances with master classes, school concerts, and artist conversations, which have brought him to such institutions as the Cleveland Institute of Music, Indiana University, University of British Columbia, University of Houston Moores School, Spotlight Awards at the Los Angeles Music Center, Young Artist World Piano Festival, and several Music Teachers’ Associations throughout the country.
Mr. Chen has been featured in both live and recorded performances on radio – WQXR (New York), WFMT (Chicago), WGBH (Boston), WFYI (Indianapolis), KCUR (Kansas City), KPR (Kansas), NPR’s From the Top, and American Public Media’s Performance Today. Additional media coverage includes a profile featured on the cover of Clavier Companion in May 2015, recognition as “One to Watch” by International Piano Magazine in March 2014, and inclusion in WFMT’s “30 Under 30.”
His CD releases include the 2021 all-Ravel digital album on the Steinway & Sons label, featuring Sonatineand Le Tombeau de Couperin; La Valse, another solo recording on the Steinway label, featuring Mr. Chen’s own arrangement of La Valse and hailed for “penetrating artistic intellect” (Audiophile Audition); a live recording from the Cliburn Competition released by harmonia mundi, praised for his “ravishing tone and cogently contoured lines” (Gramophone); an album of Michael Williams’s solo piano works on the Parma label; and an album of Flute, Oboe, and Piano repertoire titled KaleidosCoping with colleagues Michael Gordon and Celeste Johnson. Mr. Chen has also contributed to the catalog of Steinway’s new Spirio system.
A multifaceted musician, Mr. Chen also transcribes, composes, and improvises. He recently premiered his composition, Daydream No. 1 – Steps, commissioned as a gift for the retirement of American Pianists Association’s President/CEO. His transcriptions of such orchestral works as Ravel’s La Valse, Mozart’s Overture to The Marriage of Figaro, and the Adagio from Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2, have been received with glowing acclaim and enthusiasm, and his encore improvisations are lauded as “genuinely brilliant” (Dallas Morning News). His Prelude in F# was commissioned by fellow pianist Eric Zuber, and subsequently performed in New York. An advocate of new music, he has also collaborated with several composers and performed their works, including Lisa Bielawa, Jennifer Higdon, Michael Williams, Nicco Athens, Michael Gilbertson, and Reinaldo Moya.
Born in Florida, Mr. Chen grew up in the Los Angeles area of Oak Park, California. His impressive achievements before college include the NFAA ARTSweek, Los Angeles Music Center’s Spotlight, and 2006 Presidential Scholars awards. These honors combined with diligent schoolwork facilitated offers of acceptance by MIT, Harvard, and The Juilliard School. Choosing to study music, Mr. Chen earned his Bachelor and Master of Music from Juilliard, meanwhile garnering several awards, most notably the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans. He received his Artist Diploma in 2014 at the Yale School of Music as a George W. Miles Fellow. His teachers include Hung-Kuan Chen, Edward Francis, Jerome Lowenthal, and Matti Raekallio.
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.
Enjoy Early Spring in Foxburg!
Enjoy a walk along the Allegheny River trail or rent bicycles with Foxburg Tours in the morning.
Have lunch or dinner afterwards at the Allegheny Grille with seating overlooking the Allegheny River if weather allows or in the dining room overlooking the river valley.
Be sure to reserve early enough before the concert so you can be served with the concert rush to make it to the concert by 2 PM.
For more casual fare, dine at the Foxburg Pizza with soups, salads, sandwiches and pizza – and don’t forget the Pizza of the Month.
Before or after the concert enjoy a wine tasting with the 10% discount for ARCA members purchasing up to six bottles of wine – or enjoy a glass of wine and appetizers on the beautifully remodeled patio at Foxburg Wine Cellars
Plan to enjoy to enjoy a refreshing spring weekend on the beautiful Allegheny – and extend your visit in Foxburg to spend the night on Saturday or Sunday night in the elegantly remodeled Foxburg Inn – where every room has a river view.
