Chelsea de Souza

piano

Indian pianist Chelsea de Souza is a Steinway Young Artist internationally acclaimed for her dynamic artistry and thought-provoking recital programming. A captivating performer with “an alluring stage presence” (The Hindu), the four-time All-India Piano Competition winner brings a diverse range of musical influences from Western to Indian and classical to jazz to her versatile, genre-defying artistry. Recent highlights include appearances for DACAMERA of Houston’s “Beethoven for All” series and the Minnesota Orchestra’s summer season, a live improvisational recital-experiment with the University of Houston IUCRC BRAIN Center, and an artist residency on the Performance Today Rhône Valley cruise with American Public Media host Fred Child.

Ms. de Souza has performed at La Jolla Summerfest, Houston’s DACAMERA Chamber Music and Jazz Series, and with award-winning groups Alarm Will Sound and ROCO. She is the co-Founder and Artistic Director of the Houston Music Festival, which presents chamber music through interdisciplinary collaborations for audiences across Houston. She explores issues of identity and culture in music, most recently in her lecture-recital “The Silk Road: Musical Exchange between East and West,” which received high praise on tours across the United States and India. She is an enthusiastic advocate for improvisation, currently conducting her doctoral research at Rice University to develop a methodology that helps classical musicians with little to no improvisation experience approach the practice with confidence.

Ms. de Souza is the Mitchell Center Scholar in Residence, Moores School of Music at the University of Houston, teaching classes in improvisation and music of the Indian diaspora and curating interdisciplinary performances.