Chelsea Chen performs symphonic organ music on the magnificent Casavant organ

The Wheaton College Artist Series presents World-renowned organist Chelsea Chen at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 12, at Edman Chapel in Wheaton.

Photo: Chelsea Chen. Courtesy of Lisa-Marie Mazzucco

Organ music is God’s music. This incredible instrument captures us with its magic sounds and carries us away from chaos and stress into a world of harmony, peace, beauty and love. Wheaton College Artist Series, the oldest performing arts series in DuPage County, is happy to welcome renowned American organist, Chelsea Chen, who will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 12 at Edman Chapel located at 401 E Franklin Street in Wheaton.

Chen’s musicality, mastery and love for this incredible instrument make her every concert a unique and unforgettable event. Chen is a performer of wide-ranging interests and accomplishments. Her solo concerts offer a unique mix of traditional organ repertoire along with piano/orchestral transcriptions and contemporary music. The Los Angeles Times has praised her “rare musicality” and “lovely lyrical grandeur,” and a compositional style that is “charming” and “irresistible.”

Chen is originally from San Diego, where her teachers were organists Leslie Robb and Monte Maxwell and pianists Baruch Arnon, Jane Bastien and Lori Bastien Vickers. She studied under Paul Jacobs and John Weaver at The Juilliard School in New York, where she received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

Chen won the John Erskine Prize for academic and artistic achievement, awarded to one graduate per year. After college she moved to Taiwan under a Fulbright scholarship. She collected folk songs there and wrote organ solo and chamber music. Upon her return to the U.S., Chen studied with Thomas Murray in the Artist Diploma program at Yale University. From 2013-2017 she served as Organist and Concert Series Director at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Ft. Lauderdale. She currently resides in New York City as Artist-in-Residence at Emmanuel Presbyterian Church.

During her career, Chelsea recorded multiple CDs. Her playing has been aired on CNN.com, “Pipedreams” from American Public Media, Hawaii Public Radio, and Taiwan’s Good News Radio. “A brilliant recital by Chelsea Chen … Her distinctive flair and bravado, mastery of repertoire, and command of the instrument dazzled the audience,” commented C. B. Fisk Organ Company after attending 2006 AGO National Convention Recital in Chicago.

Recently, Chelsea performed as soloist with the Singapore Chinese, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the San Diego Symphony, and the Lou Harrison Festival Rutgers Orchestra at Trinity Wall Street. Recent and upcoming recitals are planned to be held in America, Taiwan, and northern Europe.

The large 4-manual Casavant organ in Edman Chapel serves both the College and the Wheaton community with the sounds of world-class concert pipe organs. Chen’s concert on this beautiful instrument will feature music from all periods, which will give a unique opportunity to her faithful listeners and new music lovers to experience the beauty of this incredible instrument and its endless possibilities.

The exact name of this organ is Casavant Frères (Opus 3796, 2001). It certainly beautifies Edman Chapel and attracts great attention. This fact makes staff members, musicians and students extremely happy. The renewed and enriched performing arts program offered by the Wheaton College Artist Series also contributes to attracting more attention to this program and to Conservatory of Music in general.

“Performing artists have suffered great economic losses in the last two years,” noted Tony Payne, General Manager of Wheaton College Artist Series, Director of Arts Events Management, and Associate Professor at Wheaton College Conservatory of Music. “This, coupled with the hesitancy to gather in large groups, causes us to pursue the renewal of the live performing arts. We have acclaimed artists appearing for the first time, a beautiful new concert hall, and a brand new, user-friendship ticketing system.”

Chen will start her concert program with Tu Es Petra written by French composer, organist and cellist Henri Mulet (1878-1967). After this intense composition, she will perform Prelude and Fugue in A Minor, BWV 543 by German composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). The audience will have a chance to enjoy the beauty of his style and the endless flow of his musical thought.

After that, Chen (b. 1983) will present her own composition called Taiwanese Suite. It was written in 2003 and has three parts: Hills in the Springtime, Moonlight Blue, and Mountain of Youth. The audience will be able to hear charming Taiwanese melodies and motives in this composition while appreciating the beauty, quality and endless opportunities of the organ.

Chelsea will also perform Sonata No. 1 in F Minor, Op. 65 by German composer, pianist, organist and conductor Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847). This Sonata is one of six sonatas for organ composed by Mendelssohn. As Eric Werner wrote about these six compositions, "next to Bach's works, Mendelssohn's Organ Sonatas belong to the required repertory of all organists." The parts of Sonata No. 1 are: Allegro moderato e serioso, Adagio, Andante recitativo, and Allegro assai vivace.

After the intermission Chen will continue to demonstrate the beauty of organ music. The second part of the concert will include Sinfonietta (2002) by New York-based composer and pianist Ola Gjeilo (b. 1978), Moto Ostinato from Sunday Music by Czech composer and organist Petr Eben (1929-2007), Naïades from Pièces de fantaisie by French organist and composer Louis Vierne (1870-1937), and Chorale-Fantasy on “Hallelujah Gott zu loben, bleibe meine Seelenfreud!” Op. 52, No. 3 by German composer, pianist, organist and conductor Max Reger (1873-1916).

This extraordinary program featuring renowned organist Chelsea Chen will become another gem in the colorful musical palette of the Wheaton College Artist Series. The Artist Series is bringing this season six beautiful concerts celebrating a variety of musical genres with events in both Armerding Concert Hall and Edman Chapel. It’s not too late to purchase a three-concert subscription for the remainder of the series. Also, please keep in mind that a new virtual box office is available online, by telephone and via email.

Spend the evening on November 12th with Wheaton College Artist Series and enjoy the sounds of the large 4-manual Casavant organ in Edman Chapel! Beloved American organist Chelsea Chen will fill Edman Chapel with its beautiful sounds and will swirl you on the waves of immortal music. For tickets, please go to https://tickets.wheaton.edu/ or call 630-752-5010.

Next on the Artist Series will be DANISH STRING QUARTET that will perform on Thursday, January 26, 2023, in Armerding Concert Hall.

Natalia Dagenhart