Alec Chien

Artist Lecturer in Piano Literature & Repertoire

Bio

Pianist Alec Chien received his bachelor's, master's and Doctoral of Musical Arts degrees from the Juilliard School of Music, studying under Adele Marcus. Grand Prize Winner of the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition and prize winner of the Sydney International Piano Competition, the Paloma O'Shea International Piano Competition, and the Affiliate Artists Xerox Piano Program, he has performed in solo and chamber recitals and as soloist with orchestras in countries on four continents, including Australia, Austria, People’s Republic of China, Greece, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Poland, Spain and Taiwan.

Among the major symphony orchestras which he has been featured as soloist are the Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Utah Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, New Zealand Symphony, American Symphony and Hong Kong Philharmonic. He was one of the 25 Steinway artists performing at the Gala Concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City to celebrate the piano company's 135th anniversary as well as its 500,000^th  piano. That commemorative piano has been brought to Allegheny twice for his solo recitals. Chien is also actively performing in chamber music, having appeared with members of the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra as well as the Alexander String Quartet, the Cavani String Quartet and an upcoming performance with the Ariel Woodwinds Quintet.

 Chien is Artist-in-Residence and Professor of Music chairing the Music Department at the Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania where he was declared “adopted native son” by the mayor of Meadville. A firm believer in bringing music to Meadville and its surrounding communities, where he was honored as the city’s “adopted native son,” Chien has brought his music to the Crawford County school districts, performing and speaking to students in both the high school and elementary school levels.

His recitals have also been part of the Bicentennial Celebrations of the cities of Meadville and Erie as well as currently, Allegheny College in 2015. Active in his community, Chien is involved in local efforts such as the Meadville Youth Vision and the Meadville Neighborhood Center. He and his wife, Brenda, have three daughters - Brianna, Mikayla Trousdale (with her husband Joel and their two children Magnolia and Jet) and Bethany (with her husband Mike and their son, born in July 2020). In the Fall of 2013, he joined the piano faculty of Carnegie Mellon University School of Music as Lecturer, Piano Literature & Repertoire for graduate piano majors.