Chelsea Guo stands out as a remarkable new kind of musical artist, equally inspired and highly regarded as both a classical pianist and a soprano. As she forges her own unique, multi-faceted path, Chelsea is gaining increasing recognition from all corners of the classical musical world.

Chelsea won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in 2022 as both a pianist and vocalist – the double award a first in YCA history – a particular seal of approval from an organization with a long-established record of spotlighting and promoting major artists in the early years of their careers. Another highlight of her year was being named one of British radio station Classic FM’s “Rising Stars: 30 Brilliant Musicians We’re Celebrating in 2022.” That accolade led to her participation in a live filming by Sky TV that featured a group of Classic FM’s Rising Stars.

These honors build upon the Orchid Classics release of Chelsea Guo: Chopin in My Voice, her debut recording from 2021. True to her artistic vision, Chelsea not only presented interpretations of classics from Chopin’s beloved solo piano repertoire but augmented them with performances of two of the same composer’s songs, and an aria by Rossini, in which Chelsea accompanied herself. Many have commented on Chopin having been influenced by bel canto opera, but few artists have ever had the capacity to do justice to that musical interconnection with bravura renditions of both pianistic and vocal parts. The music world took notice, with Gramophone Magazine including the CD among its “Essential New Albums” (“As both a pianist and a singer Chelsea Guo is clearly a special talent”), while the New York classical radio station WQXR and Naxos China both cited the recording among their “Best Albums of the Month,” as Chopin in My Voice reached #7 on the Billboard Traditional Classical Chart.

Through all this, Chelsea Guo’s concert career is flowering internationally, including performances at New York’s Carnegie Hall and London’s Wigmore Hall, as well as other prominent venues in the North America, Europe and Asia. In addition to performances at Italy’s Fazioli Piano Festival, and Spain’s Sociedad Filarmónica de A Coruña, other international highlights of recent seasons include her German debut at the Moritzburg Festival in a series of six concerts, as both pianist and soprano, appearances at the Leeds Inaugural Piano Festival, at the Mozarteum Summer Series in Salzburg and recitals in Singapore, Malaysia and China.

In the United States, Chelsea made her Lincoln Center debut at Alice Tully Hall in collaboration with the New Jersey Symphony and Maestro Xian Zhang and, as both pianist and soprano, at the season opening gala of the Stamford Symphony, led by Michael Stern. More recently, she performed with San Diego’s Mainly Mozart Festival as soprano soloist in Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 and, two nights later, as soloist in Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Her recital as part of Chicago’s Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts series, broadcast live on radio station WFMT, also presented Chelsea in both roles, as pianist and soprano. She has been featured on WQXR’s Young Artist Showcase several times in recent years.

In the 2023-2024 season, Chelsea gives recitals throughout the United States while also touring in China and collaborates with symphony orchestras in the U.S. and Poland in piano concerti by Tchaikovsky, Grieg and Mozart and as soprano soloist in works by Mahler and Mozart. In the summer of 2024, she joins Wolf Trap Opera’s Studio Artist Program, participating in productions of La bohème and Così fan tutte. 

A standout in both international piano competitions and vocal competitions, Chelsea was a winner at the 2020 National Chopin Piano Competition in Miami, while her vocal gifts were acknowledged when she was named a 2019 National YoungArts winner, and with a First Prize at the 2019 Schmidt Vocal Arts Competition.

 New York born and raised in Connecticut, Chelsea Guo has just completed her Bachelor of Music degree in piano at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Hung-Kuan Chen, while continuing her vocal studies with Jason Ferrante. She is also mentored by the renowned soprano Barbara Bonney.