Sarah Chan engages a rich contribution to the musical arts as concert pianist, professor, scholar, and artist-teacher whose work has garnered outstanding national, institutional, and professional distinction in performance artistry, teaching, and professional leadership.  Awards include The American Prize in Piano Performance; “Rising Artist” honor of New York Concert Artists and Associates; PianoTexas Festival Professional Prize; 2021 U.S. Presidential Scholar Distinguished Teacher Award (of the U.S. Presidential Commission, U.S. Department of Education); 2022 California State University-Stanislaus Outstanding Professor Faculty Award; 2021 California State University-Stanislaus Outstanding Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity Faculty Award; Award for Excellence in Teaching at the Eastman School of Music; and CAPMT Outstanding Member State Recognition Award of the California Association of Professional Music Teachers of MTNA.

As concert pianist, Sarah Chan has performed throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and South America, including at Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Berlin Philharmonic Hall, National Philharmonic of Ukraine, Salle Cortot-Paris, Sala Atenu-Romania, Teatro Municipal de Las Condes-Chile, Beifang Performing Arts Hall, and Ningxia Normal University Concert Hall.  Chan has appeared as concerto soloist with the National “Mihail Jora” Philharmonic of Romania, Romanian State Symphony, Orquesta Sinfónica Universidad Mayor, New York Concert Artists Symphony, Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony, and Enid Symphony.

As professor, Dr. Sarah Chan serves concurrently as Lecturer in Music (Piano) at Stanford University and as Associate Professor of Music (Keyboard Studies/Music Theory) and Coordinator of Keyboard Studies at California State University, Stanislaus. She additionally teaches piano at Modesto Junior College this year. With expertise in performance artistry, music academics, pedagogy, and interdisciplinary arts, Dr. Chan incorporates interpretive (historical), creative (music improvisation/extemporization), and interdisciplinary expressions of the arts in her practice as well as teaching.  Further insight may be gleaned through Ukrainian TV (https://youtu.be/z1995uXTiw4), at Berlin Fueilletonscout.com (https://www.feuilletonscout.com/ein-moment-mit-pianistin-sarah-chan/), and in her journal article, “Innovative Teaching Practices in 21st-c. Music Pedagogy”, Мистецтво та освіта (Art and Education) (No. 3 (93) 2019).

As artist-masterclass teacher, Chan has engaged artist residencies throughout the world:  in Ukraine, at the “Toloka” Center for Educational Initiatives of the University of Educational Management and National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine, Ukrainian Global School, and Mariupol Specialized School of Music; in China, at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Beifang University of Nationalities, and Ningxia Normal University; in Chile, at the Conservatorio de Música de la Universidad Mayor; and through online connectivity to Africa, at the University of Ghana.  North American residencies include the University of Lethbridge, California State University-Sacramento, Charleston Southern University, University of Central Missouri, Oklahoma City University, and Erskine College.

Chan trained musically at the Eastman School of Music (D.M.A.), Paris Conservatory of Music, Peabody Conservatory of Music (M.M.), Manhattan School of Music (B.M.), and University of Michigan. She pursued her liberal arts education with a concentration in French at La Sorbonne, Columbia University, and the University of Michigan.  Chan currently serves on two national committees of The College Music Society where she just completed her term as CMS Board Member for Performance and Chair of the Performance Council.