Biography

  Award-winning American-Canadian pianist, Melody Chan, is a vibrant and versatile artist who engages in numerous musical projects throughout the country and abroad. A seasoned recital soloist, she has been featured on numerous different platforms, and is constantly finding new ways to engage a larger diverse audience group.  Melody is a recipient for both the Canada Council for the Arts as well as the FACTOR (The Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings) grant organizations.  Her debut album has been warmly received by audiences and critics alike. WholeNote magazine describes “Chan’s approach is poised and elegant, and she easily handles the technical requirements of this deceptively challenging work…Chan’s playing is sensitively articulated, with just the right amount of tempo rubato.”

Melody made an appearance during the pandemic as a featured soloist in Orchestra Toronto’s virtual concert series celebrating Beethoven’s 250th birthday.  She has also been featured multiple summers in concerts at the International Music Festival in Casalmaggiore, Italy.  Other highlights from her musical collaborations include being named a laureate at the International Northwest Piano Ensemble Competition (together with fellow pianist Matthew Ming Li).  Her highly praised live performance of Denis Gougeon’s Piano-Soleil has been broadcasted on RCF Radio in France.  

Melody was born in Los Angeles, California, and raised in Vancouver.  She studied with her father throughout her formative years until her undergraduate schooling, which was completed at the University of British Columbia.  She later moved on to complete both her Masters and Doctoral degrees on a fully funded fellowship at the University of Toronto.  Other scholarships have led to her participation in numerous summer music festivals (such as the Toronto Summer Music Festival and at the Centre d’arts Orford), where she had the honour of working with renowned teachers Jacques Rouvière, Jean Saulnier, Maneli Pirzadeh, Richard Raymond, Marietta Orlov, James Parker and Lee Kum Sing.  She credits her most influential teacher to be Professor Lee Kum Sing, during her artist diploma studies at the Vancouver Academy of Music. 

Ever expanding her skills and curiosity, Melody is also a burgeoning harpsichordist and takes a great interest in early music.  She has performed as an orchestral harpsichordist alongside members of the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra.  The inaugural Denman Island Baroque Music Festival also featured Melody as their resident harpsichordist in their performance of Dido and Aenaes, and subsequent season in Monteverdi’s Orfeo.

Apart from her performance engagements, Melody is also a highly sought after music instructor and adjudicator. Her students have received distinction results on both their practical piano and theory exams. She has prepared prizewinning students for performances at Carnegie Hall, New York.  She has also been invited as a guest lecturer at Trinity Western University.  Beyond teaching, Melody has served as an adjudicator at the Ontario Registered Music Teachers’ Association Scholarship competition.  

Melody continues to strive to present thought-provocative programs in concerts throughout Canada and abroad.