Theresa Chen has made her career through jazz, sacred music and teaching
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After Theresa Chen’s parents bought her a small Casio keyboard when she was 4 years old, her love and curiosity for music began to flourish. Chen can still recall her infatuation with the sound of a classmate playing jazz piano during a class break in middle school
“The harmony was so fancy and so groovy. I did not know until my first year as a freshman that it was so called ‘jazz,’ but I was just fascinated by the sound and since then I was trying to copy the way he did it on the piano,” Chen said.
Now, Chen has made music her career, not just through playing, but also through teaching. Chen is a professor of applied jazz piano, songwriting and the history of jazz at Syracuse University. She also came out with her first album in 2021, “Whispering to God,” which combines “sacred” music with religious themes and jazz, both integral parts of her life.
Chen was also nominated for the 2022 People’s Choice section of the Syracuse Area Music Awards, or the SAMMYs. Although Chen didn’t make it to the top four nominees, the nomination in general was a pleasant surprise to her, as she did not expect to even be on the list.
Chen was born in Buffalo, as her parents were studying for doctorates in the city at the time. She was then raised in Taiwan, where she stayed until she returned to New York to receive her masters and doctorate at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester.
“My life has been associated with central New York because it was where I was born, where I studied my grad school, and where I got my first teaching job,” Chen said “It is rooted now in my life.”
Chen said she hadn’t always thought about pursuing a career in teaching until a classmate of hers in Taiwan told her she had a “natural” ability for it. At the time, she was working to set up a jazz club at her alma mater, the National Taiwan Normal University, where she studied classical piano performance.
Back in Taiwan, Chen said there wasn’t a lot of jazz education available, but she was still eager to teach herself by buying the materials, like blues/jazz piano method books, herself. After getting more involved in various camps, private institutions and some performing activities, Chen said she started to become more determined to pursue a career of becoming jazz a musician. Eventually, that turned to teaching, though that wasn’t always her main intention.
“I wasn’t thinking about teaching exactly, but the need to pass the knowledge of jazz to the next generation kind of pushed me into the career of teaching right now,” Chen said.
Chen started sharing her knowledge of music as a teaching assistant at Eastman, teaching functional jazz piano. After getting her doctorate in jazz piano performance, Chen landed her position at SU, where she’s been able to share her love for jazz even more.
“She is deeply passionate about jazz and providing students with endless opportunities for growth. I have learned so much from her and she’s constantly showing me more and more reasons to love jazz,” said Abbie Wood, a sophomore organ performance major.
As a professor, Chen likes to focus on letting her students express themselves, adding that improvisation is a way to express oneself. She never wants to kill the ideas her students have in mind.
Hannah Scarborough, a masters student of music composition, said she has taken two different classes with Chen, and noted how Chen genuinely wants her students to enjoy the material, and works to make that happen.
“Her energy is contagious and I love going to her class because I always leave with lifted spirits,” Scarborough said. “Dr. Chen always gives high fives and hugs at the beginning and end of class and she makes everyone in her class feel welcome, included and important.”
Outside the classroom, Chen has also been able to co-direct and teach the Orange Juice Jazz combo. Chen said her role allows her to teach advanced musicians and assign them with challenging charts, or songs.
Aside from her work on campus, Chen has also found success in her own work. “Whispering to God” was nominated for Best Jazz Tune category of the 2022 Golden Indie Music Awards in Taiwan.
Chen described the album as an international cooperation, as recordings for the album were done in Rochester while production aspects happened in Taiwan. The final product: a comforting, healing piece that she worked on during the early pandemic period.
“It’s healing jazz music – I believe jazz does have that power, make beautiful music, not just powerful but healing too,” Chen said.
Chen said she’d like to see the small jazz circle of Syracuse become more vibrant. With fewer and fewer people appreciating jazz, Chen said she’s eager to join in on any jam sessions or events she comes across.
For now, Chen is enjoying her time as a professor and is eager to continue showing her students the ways in which music represents her. She said when she can’t express things orally, music helps her illustrate what comes from her heart.
“Music can be really flexible so it represents who you are, and it shapes my individual characteristics and my personality,” Chen said. “To me music is the way I am. And the way I speak, the way I communicate.”
