Jennifer Chou

Jennifer Chou made her Melbourne Town Hall debut as soloist with the Orchestra Victoria soon after she settled in Australia in 2004. She has performed as a soloist across the country in major town halls and Cathedrals including Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Newcastle, and Sydney. Overseas, Jennifer has appeared as soloist in Europe including venues such as the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris and the Westminster Abbey in London, elsewhere such as the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, the Esplanade Concert Hall in Singapore, Cathedrals in New Zealand; and in the International Bamboo Organ Festival in the Philippines.

Jennifer is a sought after organ teacher, she had taught the organ for the Australian Catholic University in Melbourne. Since 2015, she teaches the organ at Melbourne High School where she teaches the organ to both beginners who have neither musical nor religious backgrounds, as well as pianists who want to also master the art of organ playing. She also has taught masterclasses in Hong Kong, Singapore and within Australia, and she has adjudicated the New Zealand Organ Competition, and the Ringwood Eisteddfod organ section in Melbourne.

Born in Hong Kong, Jennifer graduated from The Chinese University of Hong Kong majoring in the organ. She studied the organ with Wolfgang Rübsam at Northwestern University at which she obtained a Master of Music degree and the Certificate of Performance with Honour. She furthered her studies at the Conservatoire National de Région de Rueil-Malmaison in Paris in the organ class of Susan Landale and obtained the Prix de Virtuosité à l'unanimité avec les félicitations du jury. Following that, she specialised in French Classical and North German repertoire with Michel Bouvard and Jan Willem Jansen at the Centre d'Etudes Supérieures de Musique et Danse in Toulouse in Cycle de Perfectionnement. Her graduation concert awarded her the Premier Prix d'Orgue à l'unanimité in the frame of the Toulouse les Orgues International Festival in 2001. In 2003 she won “Mention Speciale” in the Biarritz International Organ Competition (France).

Press

“…Dealing with Messiaen's purple musical romanticisms on the king of instruments is no easy task and Chou stepped up to the plate with calm assurance, complete clarity and unruffled accuracy. With notes and stops flying every which way, that was the best performance solution by far. She also managed to make the giant Church organ sound tolerably like Messiaen's own instrument at La Sainte Trinite in Paris, no mean feat given the huge disparity between it and the original.” (The Advertiser, South Australia)

"Die in Hong Kong geborene und in Australien lebende Orgelvirtuosin überzeugte die zahlreichen Besucher mit stupender Meisterschaft. Hubert Sandten gefiel neben der technischen Souveränität die Registrierkunst der Interpretin, Norbert Bender rühmte die Klarheit und Transparenz vor allem bei J.S. Bach. " (Augsburger Allgemeine)

"Det blev en ekstra oplevelse, ud over at lytte til tonerne, at se den slanke, unge pige, rank som et lys, med plastike armbevægelser og yndefulde håndbevægelser forme musikken, disciplineret, kontrolleret, og alligevel levende. ... Og Jennifer Chou er ikke kun en god musiker, hun er en sublim orgelspiller, der har teknik og klangsans i rigt mål, og som kan forme musikken, så den lyder så indlysende rigtig." (Sorø, review by Hans Krarup)

"Chou is a player of great energy and vitality who never loses focus, even in the largest canvases....she drove points home without becoming boring and with immense elan." (The Advertiser, South Australia)

“… Uncommon brilliant also the victorious conclusion part, which was pushed briskly by pedal runs towards the end. Jennifer Chou had not shrunk from difficulties, for which audience thanked with enthusiastic applause.“ (Schwarzwaelder Bote Donn)

“... the performer offered a maximum of virtuosity in the chromatic passages and fascinated her listeners with her rapid and secure playing. The fully voiced chordal passages and the almost "whirling" runs, played with breathtaking speed, left and equally deep impresssion” (Goslar Zeitung)