Charlie Chan (they/them) is an award-winning Australian composer, piano virtuoso and creative technologist. Their career spans over forty years, and includes compositions for screen & stage and performances in some of the most renowned venues in the world, from the Sydney Opera House to the United Nations and NASA. 

In 2023 Charlie has been releasing a new album every week as part of the Constellation series; 52 albums of their solo piano compositions – all recorded over the past 30 years, but never mastered or released until now. Each album is named after a constellation visible in the night sky on the day of its release, with each track named after a star in that constellation.

 

On June 23rd-24th this year Charlie presents Supernova, a marathon 24+hr endurance performance that will set a world record for the longest improvised piano concert ever - solo with a little help from their friends – on the Outdoor Stage at HoTA on the Gold Coast.
 

A true digital innovator, Charlie operates at the intersection of technology and creativity. In 2017, as Artist-in-Residence at Accenture, they taught Baxter the Robot, powered by AI, to play along on the marimba with the Interactive Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House.
 

More recently Charlie has been developing ChAI – Charlie’s own AI – teaching it to improvise and play just like them. ChAI will make its world premiere at Supernova, filling in during the 24+hr performance to allow Charlie to have micronaps, meals, massages and toilet breaks.
 

ChAI is just the latest technological tool in Charlie’s compositional and creative arsenal: In 2018 they developed Conductor Cam to connect musicians from 350 orchestras around the world to perform in exact sync as the Global Orchestra.

Charlie operates from a conviction that creativity is essential to qualify, test, exploit and improve scientific and technological innovations, and that creativity and  dreative thinkers are more critical than ever to push and potentially reframe the boundaries of new technologies, as well as to check and challenge their application.

 

A passionate meditation advocate, Charlie is also the creator of Museful Live, providing meditation through music, to both live audiences and via live streams.