Concert pianist Chelsea de Souza is a Steinway Young Artist internationally acclaimed for her dynamic artistry and thought-provoking recital programming. A Houston transplant born and raised in Mumbai, India, the four-time All-India Piano Competition winner weaves together influences from Western and Indian classical traditions with jazz and improvisation in her versatile, genre-defying artistry. A captivating performer and lecturer with “an alluring stage presence” (The Hindu), she weaves together personal anecdotes, historical context and musical improvisation to create immersive concert experiences that are universally appealing. Recent season highlights include appearances in the Minnesota Orchestra’s summer season; a live improvisation recital-experiment in collaboration with the University of Houston IUCRC BRAIN Center; and an artist residency on the Performance Today Rhone Valley cruise with American Public Media host Fred Child.

Chelsea is the co-founder and Artistic Director of the Houston Music Festival, now in its third season, which reimagines chamber music through interdisciplinary collaborations. She has performed at La Jolla Summerfest and Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival, for the DACAMERA Chamber Music and Jazz Series in Houston, and with award-winning groups Alarm Will Sound and ROCO. She has commissioned and premiered numerous works for solo piano and small ensemble across the US, including the recent world premiere of “Do You Remember”, a genre-bending piano concerto by composer Nicky Sohn, with Houston’s new music collective Loop38.

Growing up in Mumbai, Chelsea’s musical roots were grounded in a blend of western classical and popular styles. Now she strives to explore issues of identity and culture in her performances, most recently in her lecture-recital project ‘The Silk Road”. An eclectic program of Indian and Western classical composers that traces musical exchange between East and West, it has received high praise on tour across the US and India. An enthusiastic improviser, Chelsea is completing her doctoral research at Rice University, developing a methodology to help classical musicians approach the practice with confidence. She is also involved in an ongoing cross-disciplinary research project with composer Anthony Brandt and the University of Houston, involving EEG-based brain interfacing during live performances of improvised music.

A finalist of the 2021 Concert Artists Guild Emerging Artist Competition, Chelsea has won four All-India piano competitions, the IIYM International Piano Competition, the Oberlin Concerto Competition, the Global Scholar-Education World Young Achievers Award in Music and Arts, and second prizes at the 2020 Young Texas Artists and the 2019 Cranbrook Music Guild Emerging Artist competitions. Her teachers include Peter Takács, Boris Slutsky and Jon Kimura Parker. She holds Bachelor’s degrees in Politics and in Piano Performance and Vocal Accompanying from Oberlin College and Conservatory, and a Master’s degree from the Peabody Institute of Music. She is now completing her doctorate at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.

Chelsea is a Texas Touring Artist and the Mitchell Scholar in Residence at Moores School of Music, University of Houston, teaching classes on improvisation and music of the Indian diaspora, and curating interdisciplinary performances. In her spare time, Chelsea loves exploring cultures through experimenting in the kitchen, just as she does at the piano.