News: Generous Performer

REACHING INTO a Steinway to pluck its strings with her right hand while playing the keys with her left, pianist Susan Chan creates a series of overtones that evoke a time-forsaken landscape. The exotic sounds punctuate a piece titled "Memories in an Ancient Garden," written by Chinese-Canadian composer Alexina Louie. It seems like minutes before the cluster of tones subsides and the concert audience erupts in applause.

The crowd's emotional response speaks volumes of Chan's artistry. A native of Hong Kong, she has an innate way of expressing the sounds of her homeland. Chan performed Louie's piece in September during her second appearance at Carnegie Hall.

"I didn't grow up playing Chinese music," says Chan in her elegant, Hong Kong-schooled English accent. "I didn't like it for a long time. But now that I'm older, I look back on my roots, and I'm very interested in presenting music from my homeland.

A 43-year-old assistant professor of music, Chan brings a love of performing and teaching to Lincoln Hall—demonstrating both with a personal approach that sets her apart.

Her melodic repertoire of modern Asian composers such as Louie and Ning-Chi Chen is not often performed in the United States. Audiences appear surprised and delighted by her choice. Another rare treat is the full-screen slides that accompany her performances of Bach and Chopin. She pairs Chopin's "24 Preludes" with French impressionistic art and Bach's "Chaconne" with famous religious paintings.

Chan's repertoire can be heard on her CD, East West Encounter, and during her performances as a soloist with such orchestras as the Portland Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Chamber Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, and the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra in Indiana.

CHAN IS A NATURAL musician who grew up with music in the house. Her mother was an accomplished singer who gave music lessons. Neither her mother nor her father, a psychology professor, pressured Chan to excel at piano; she simply fell in love with it.

She earned degrees in music from the University of Hong Kong. While there, she sought career advice from British composer and performer Nicholas Routley. He suggested she combine her love for performance with a career in teaching.

"It appeals to me to work with students and try to affect their lives in a positive way," says Chan. "I love the balance of teaching and performing, although both can really consume you."

Since coming to the United States in 1988, Chan has done postgraduate work at Yale University and earned a doctorate in piano pedagogy at the acclaimed Indiana University School of Music.

Chan has a mission of taking her music—and that of her students—beyond the classroom and concert halls to people confined to nursing homes, retirement homes, and hospitals.

It's a tradition she began during her studies at Yale, when she signed up for extracurricular, moneymaking gigs. Yale's music school called, asking if she would like to play at a Jewish hospice.

"I didn't know what a hospice was," recalls Chan. "It really surprised me to see the patients and their condition. They were wheeled out in beds and placed near the piano. I just played. They couldn't respond by clapping, but I knew they could feel the music. After the concert I talked to one of the staff who brought me to the bed of one of the patients who was in the last stages of her life, and she managed to tell me how much she appreciated the music. It was very special, very powerful, and a little scary at the same time."

PLAYING FOR PATIENTS made such a huge impression on Chan that she decided to get her students interested. She incorporated it into her teaching regimen at Washington State University and, since fall 2004, has challenged her students at Portland State to follow the same path.

A community engagement grant from the College Music Society, a nonprofit consortium of music scholars, performers, and professors, helps cover the costs of playing at nursing homes and hospitals, including a recital Chan gave in the lobby of Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland.

"Two of the little girls were dancing and spinning around while Susan played," says Jennifer Payne, volunteer resources manager at Doernbecher. "This is a good way to take their minds off the fact that they are in a hospital,and many kids are here for a long time. The minimum stay for bone marrow transplant is 52 days."

Chan also plays at the Chapel of Mary's Woods, a retirement community near Marylhurst University.

"We had 100 people at her last concert," says Hank Knowlen, activities director at Mary's Woods. Residents unable to see it in person, watched it on televisions in their rooms."

The residents also enjoy concerts by Chan's students, such as Jeff Baxter, a 35-year-old pianist, who recently graduated from PSU with a bachelor's degree in music and linguistics.

"I found the experience of playing at nursing and retirement homes refreshing and unique," remarks Baxter. "It was great to apply what I've learned in a different role--not in a regular concert setting. Lots of folks talked to me afterwards and asked how many hours I practice and my musical background."

OVER THE UPCOMING YEAR, Chan would like to collaborate more with other musicians in concert performances as well as playing for those who cannot get to the concert hall.

"It takes me out of the routine of the University and brings me closer to those in need," says Chan. "I think of it as piano music for the soul."

James Bash, a Portland freelance writer, wrote the article "Opera without Subtitles" for the fall 2004 Portland State Magazine.

Hear Professor Susan Chan

Visit her homepage at web.pdx.edu/~chanss/home.html. She is scheduled to play on campus October 21 at 4 p.m. in 175 Lincoln Hall during an all-Steinway concert featuring piano faculty and students. She will also give a noontime concert on January 24 in 75 Lincoln Hall. See the PSU calendar for details.