About

Theodore Chaffman is an American pianist whose work encompasses concert performance, international cultural exchange, and artistic programming. He trained at The Juilliard School and served as a cultural performer at the U.S. Pavilion at World Expo 2025 in Osaka. He is on the U.S. Department of State’s Music Envoy roster.

His engagements have included work with the United Nations and the World Bank. Through performance, teaching, and collaboration with musicians abroad, he explores how musical exchange can contribute to relationships between countries and their cultural institutions.

Music

My repertoire includes Beethoven, Liszt, Debussy, Ravel, and Scriabin alongside composers such as Takashi Yoshimatsu, Nikolai Kapustin, Qigang Chen, and Carl Vine. I’m particularly interested in the breadth of piano music written beyond the European concert tradition’s historic centres, and in giving that repertoire a substantial place in my programs.

I choose unfamiliar works with the same expectations I bring to established repertoire: they should sustain close study, reward repeated listening, and carry a performance. A major work by a lesser-known composer can be the centre of a recital, shaping the program around it. This is an important part of how I approach the piano’s international repertoire and my role in bringing it to an audience.

Programs

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