Dr. Pei-Chen Chen is a Taiwanese-Canadian pianist, educator, and researcher whose work spans performance, piano pedagogy, and music education. As a soloist and collaborative pianist, she has performed and presented internationally and has received awards and honours at the North West International Piano Ensemble Competition, the Ohio International Piano Duet & Duo Competition, and the United States International Duo Piano Competition.

Chen’s artistic work includes both solo and collaborative projects. She has explored one-handed piano repertoire through the music of Canadian composer Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté, including Piano Sonata No. 6, presenting this work in Toronto and at the Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference in Melbourne. She was also an artist in the Banff Musicians in Residence program at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, where she performed works by Canadian composer Cecilia Livingston. As co-founder of Sirius Piano Duo, Chen has developed projects centred on Canadian repertoire, music by women composers, and contemporary works for piano duo. During an artist residency at Orford Music, the duo recorded Northern Lights Piano Duets: An Exploration of Canadian Piano Music. She has also performed and presented at the International Society for Music Education World Conference, The Piano Conference: NCKP, the Music Teachers National Association National Conference, and the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers’ Associations Conference.

Chen teaches undergraduate and graduate piano pedagogy at the University of Toronto, where she completed her Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and Pedagogy. In her teaching, she encourages students to connect musical understanding, listening, technique, and expression rather than treating them as separate skills. Dalcroze Eurhythmics has shaped both her teaching and research, particularly her interest in using movement, listening, and active music-making in piano learning. Her doctoral research on Dalcroze-inspired piano lessons for adult learners was supported by a SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship. She has also received a Mitacs Globalink Research Award and the Selma Odom Prize from the International Conference of Dalcroze Studies. Her current research examines the career pathways and professional experiences of musicians after doctoral study.

Chen has also helped develop community music and teacher-training initiatives through the University of Toronto Piano Pedagogy Program. She serves on the Teaching Adults Committee for The Piano Conference: NCKP, is an examiner for The Royal Conservatory of Music, and is Lead Editor of Being Music, the journal of Dalcroze Canada. Performance, teaching, and research remain closely connected in Chen’s work, each continuing to inform her approach to music-making, education, and collaboration.

Performances:
Eckhardt-Gramatté Piano Sonata No.6, E130: https://youtu.be/LxkqlnHXTB0
Ching-Yu Hsiau 蕭慶瑜: Nostalgia 懷: https://youtu.be/VLUl2PzZiMc
C. Livingston: “Over the Hill and Far Away” and “Through The Glass” from Three Memories for Piano: https://youtu.be/G7WY2_56gjk
Love, Longing & Loss- Tales of Water Spirits: https://youtu.be/mwmIZOahpx4

Off the Bench, Sing and Play: Lived Experiences in Dalcroze-inspired Piano Lessons for Amateur Adults: https://utoronto.scholaris.ca/items/ed0e8654-5ac0-4874-8119-f6b9e174c573