Chelsea Chen - Reviews

Reviews

"Chelsea played with confidence, style, and imagination at a level that many older performers would surely envy. She went on to win the Augustana Arts/Reuter competition in Denver in 2005, and superbly presented a fully memorized program to an American Guild of Organist's Winter Conclave in LasVegas in January 2006, and appeared again for the AGO in Chicago this summer. All of 21 years old, at the time Chelsea was also invited to play at the Heinz chapel of the University of Pittsburgh, during an American Institute of Organbuilders Conference. On that occasion she shared music which she herself had composed--honoring her father and his Chinese ancestry--a Taiwanese Suite based on folk melodies. Both Bach and Reger surely would have approved of the formidable talent of our soloist Chelsea Chen. The future is in the hands as players such as Chelsea Chen who not only perform exceptionally well but also compose for the organ and encourage other friends of their generation to write for it too."

"I believe that I spied the figures in the stained glass windows dancing along with Chelsea's music. Ms. Chen is to be congratulated for an excellent recital. She presented herself in a professional, well-informed and humble manner."

"At conventions I generally listen intently to the instrument, appreciate the efforts of the organist, and pay relatively little attention to the performances. But I was powerless to ignore the playing of Chelsea Chen. It's easy to qualify, to say 'she's great...for one so young!' Playing like that is captivating, regardless of age. It wasn't just that I enjoyed her selections or agreed with her choice of stops. She does not play the organ. She makes the organ her instrument for making music. Her every move is musical. Every piston she pushes, every manual change, every tiny nudge of the shades is a fluid part of her music. I watched her left hand playing the almost inaudible accompaniment in the Bach 'Badinerie'. Every note perfectly attacked and released. Not fussy, just perfect. If Chelsea Chen is a harbinger of the generation on the horizon, there's going to be a lot of organbuilding to do." ref>Journal of American Organbuilding, Volume 20, No. 1