Pianist Dr. Belinda Chen is a faculty member at Bilkent University in Ankara, Türkiye, where she teaches Piano Performance, Piano Literature, and Collaborative Piano. She is also the founding director of the IPPA (International Piano Professionals’ Association) Türkiye Division, and in May 2025, she hosted the inaugural IPPA Türkiye Piano Competition at Bilkent. A dedicated pedagogue and mentor, Dr. Chen has adjudicated and given masterclasses for the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), the Seattle International Piano Festival, the International AmiCa Fest Piano Competitions, the Florida Federation of Music, and the Oregon State Music Teachers Association. She regularly performs as a soloist and chamber musician in concerts throughout Türkiye and Europe.

In addition to teaching and performance, Dr. Chen is an active researcher and writer. Her scholarship, which often explores the intersection of music and literature, has been presented at international conferences in South Korea, Spain, and the United States. Previously a contributing writer for the online journal Which Sinfonia, her writings enjoy a broad readership.

Born in Athens, Georgia, Dr. Chen gave her first recital in 2001 at the age of eight. She has since performed internationally, appearing at venues such as the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage (Washington, D.C.), the Teatro Massimo Vincenzo Bellini (Catania, Italy), the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center (Savannah, GA), and the Osaka International House (Osaka, Japan). She has performed as a soloist with the Bellini Symphony Orchestra in Italy and the Frost Symphony Orchestra in Florida.

She is the winner of the 2018 AmicaFest Concerto Competition (Italy) and the 2017 Frost Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition (Florida), as well as first prize recipient of multiple national competitions in the United States. Dr. Chen has also appeared as a finalist and prize winner in prestigious competitions such as the 1000 Islands International Chopin Competition, the Washington International Piano Festival Competition, and the Osaka International Music Competition. Her festival appearances include the Shandalee International Piano Festival, Northern Lights Music Festival, Texas State International Piano Festival, and more.

Dr. Chen holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, where she studied with Alexander Shtarkman and was the recipient of the Leslie C. Ourseler Piano Award, Norman J. and Sarah J. Groves Endowed Scholarship, and Leo B. Windermann Annual Memorial Prize in Piano. She completed her Doctor of Musical Arts in Keyboard Performance, with a Cognate in Musicology, at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music under the guidance of Tian Ying.