Dr. Melvin Chen
Head Judge; Professor in the Practice of Piano, Yale School of Music
A native of Tennessee, Dr. Melvin Chen has received acclaim for solo and chamber performances throughout the United States, Canada, and Asia. Dr. Chen’s performances have been featured on radio and television stations around the world, including KBS television and radio in Korea, NHK television in Japan, and NPR in the United States.
As a Professor in the Practice of Piano, Dr. Chen teaches a studio of graduate and undergraduate piano students. In addition, he serves as Director of the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival/Yale Summer School of Music, where he also performs. Previously, Dr. Chen was Associate Director and on the piano faculty at the Bard College Conservatory of Music and served as Artistic Director of the chamber music program at the Hotchkiss School Summer Portals.
Dr. Chen earned a doctorate in chemistry from Harvard University and holds a double master’s degree from The Juilliard School in piano and violin. He received his bachelor of science degree in chemistry and physics from Yale University, where he studied with Boris Berman, Paul Kantor, and Ida Kavafian.
Dr. Chen’s notable solo recordings include Beethoven’s “Diabelli” Variations (Bridge Records), which the American Record Guide described as “a classic,” piano music by Joan Tower (Naxos Records), and sonatas and other pianos works by Shostakovich (Bridge Records), among others.
He is a frequent juror at national and international piano competitions. In 2024, he was the jury chair of the Cleveland International Piano Competition.
