Biography

Pianist Aileen Chanco made her debut with the San Francisco Symphony at the age of thirteen and has since captivated audiences and critics with her instinctive virtuosity and sensitivity. Early in her career, she was selected by conductor Kent Nagano to solo with the Boston Pops. Following this success, she was named a Presidential Scholar of the Arts, receiving a medal at the White House and making her debut at the Kennedy Center.

Aileen earned both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Music from the Juilliard School under the tutelage of Herbert Stessin. Her career as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician has spanned the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia, with notable performances at New York’s Alice Tully Hall and the Cultural Center of the Philippines. she has performed with numerous ensembles, including the Shreveport Symphony, the Berkeley Symphony, and the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra. In a return to her native Philippines, she performed the national premiere of John Adams’ "Century Rolls" with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, a performance hailed as a "tremendous achievement."

Aileen’s accolades include first-place finishes in the Young Keyboard Artist International Competition and the Seventeen Magazine-General Motors National Concerto Competition. She is an alumna of the Aspen Summer Music Festival and the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, and a recipient of the National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts Award.

Her CD, "Images of Three Centuries" (Con Brio Recordings), received critical acclaim from the American Record Guide, which praised her "beautiful sound" and "imaginative" delivery of Moussorgsky’s "Pictures at an Exhibition” and Debussy’s “Reflects dans l’eau”.

Based in California, Aileen is the founder and Artistic Director of the Music with a Mission Concert Series formerly named Music at the Mission. She resides with her husband, double bassist Bill Everett, and enjoys traveling, hiking, and fencing.