About Hao Chen
Biography
Hao Chen is a classical pianist, piano teacher, and interdisciplinary artist based in the Netherlands.
His artistic journey across China, Germany, and the Netherlands has shaped an international perspective on classical music, education, and audience experience.
Moving between performance, teaching, and artistic research, his work explores how music can become an open space where imagination, learning, and shared experience unfold.
Artistic Roots
A Classical Foundation
Hao began studying piano at the age of four. What began as a childhood curiosity at the piano gradually grew into a lifelong artistic path, shaped by daily practice, classical discipline, international study, and encounters with different musical traditions.
His musical education developed through China, Germany, and the Netherlands, where he immersed himself in different artistic cultures, teaching traditions, and approaches to musical interpretation.
His training includes bachelor’s and master’s studies at ArtEZ University of the Arts, long-term guidance in Germany, and participation in masterclasses with internationally recognised pianists.
Master’s Studies
Frank van de Laar
ArtEZ University of the Arts / Conservatorium van Amsterdam
Bachelor’s Studies
Helena Basilova
ArtEZ University of the Arts
Early Training
Helen Sim
Xinghai Conservatory of Music
Long-Term Guidance in Germany
Ilja Scheps
Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln
Masterclasses
Andreas Groethuysen
University Mozarteum Salzburg
Masterclasses
Alexander Schimpf
Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover
Teaching & Educational Practice
Hao’s teaching approach has been shaped by different educational cultures in China, Germany, and the Netherlands. From exam-oriented piano training to conservatory pedagogy and public music education, he has developed an approach that balances expression, technique, curiosity, and personal motivation.
His pedagogical practice is grounded in systematic training in piano education at ArtEZ Conservatory, including lesson planning, curriculum design, beginner technique, repertoire development, method analysis, and reflection on how students learn. This was further developed through supervised teaching practice under the guidance of René M. and Martin G., working with students of different ages, levels, goals, and learning styles.
Hao also gained experience at Städtische Musikschule Gelsenkirchen, where he encountered the German municipal music school model and gained insight into how music education can function within a wider cultural and social context.
As a piano teacher, Hao values clarity, patience, and flexibility. For young learners, curiosity, listening, games, and gradual steps can support long-term musical growth. For adult learners, lessons often begin from personal musical interests, gradually building expression, music reading, technique, and musical understanding.
Artistic Research & Projects
Hao’s artistic research is connected to a central question: how can classical music be presented in ways that feel closer, more imaginative, and more meaningful to contemporary audiences?
This question has been explored through festivals, collaborative performances, and self-initiated interdisciplinary projects. Through these experiences, Hao has developed a practice in which music, image, space, narrative, and reflection become closely interwoven.
His experience includes projects such as Common Ground Festival, December Songs Project, a collaboration involving the Nederlands Blazers Ensemble, and Moderne Klanken van de Saxofoon.
Alongside these experiences, Hao initiated and developed De Droom van den Luiaard, Resonance of Life, Sailor and Mermaid, and Humanity & AI. These projects explore how classical piano repertoire and chamber music can interact with visual art, film, narrative, movement, space, and audience reflection.
In Resonance of Life, music by Debussy, Schumann/Liszt, and Robert Schumann was arranged and shaped into a cross-media narrative with piano, flute, cello, visual art, and spatial design. Sailor and Mermaid connected music by Debussy and Mompou with visual imagery and narrative imagination. Humanity & AI combined piano, chamber music, dance, visuals, light, and text to invite reflection on human emotion and artificial intelligence.
These projects gradually became the foundation of Hao’s ongoing artistic research. Through audience feedback, interviews, literature study, rehearsal documentation, and project-based reflection, he developed two working frameworks: Invite · Guide · Echo and Guided Openness in Cooperation.
For Hao, artistic research is not separate from performance. It is a way of asking how music can open imagination, guide attention, and create temporary spaces where audiences, performers, and collaborators can meet through music, image, movement, and reflection.
IGE
Invite · Guide · Echo explores how performances can invite curiosity, guide attention, and create space for audiences to reflect, respond, and continue the experience beyond the performance itself.
GOC
Guided Openness in Cooperation explores how interdisciplinary collaboration can balance clear structure with creative freedom, allowing different artistic disciplines to contribute without losing shared direction.
Academic Governance & Institutional Contribution
Alongside his artistic and educational practice, Hao has contributed to academic governance within ArtEZ, taking part in institutional reflection, programme development, and educational quality processes.
As a member of the Academy Council for Master Courses, he engaged with topics such as annual budgets, facilities, safety, governance policy, and the development of an inclusive learning environment.
He also served on the Master Course Committee, where he contributed to discussions around the Education and Examination Regulations, course structure, assessment, credits, admissions, and graduation procedures.
These experiences deepened his understanding of how artistic education is shaped not only through individual practice, but also through institutional structure, responsibility, and dialogue.
“I have come to know Hao Chen as a dedicated, reliable, meticulous, and collegial peer. His contributions to the council are always thoughtful, well-prepared, and reflect a sharp analytical & pragmatic mind.”— Dr. João da Silva
Chair, Academy Council Master Programmes
Profile
At a Glance
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Lessons · Performances · Projects · Collaboration
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