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BORING and pretentious – a reputation classical music has earned as it evolved into a “niche” genre, giving it a unique status that has divided the industry and musical community.
What was once pop music has now become a specialised art form that requires an “acquired taste”. Its status has isolated its listeners from pop music aficionados, as some music elitists argue the art form does not blend with modern sounds or that it is
formatively different.
While fans remain divided, composers such as Belle Chen have been rewriting the narrative, as for her, music is simply how she breathes, thinks and communicates.
Belle Chen
“It’s how I experience and process – and communicate back everything that happens in life. And it’s also how I process an experience myself.”
Sitting down with theSun, the Taiwanese-Australian composer talked about life and making resonating music.
The nomadic sanctuary
Having lived all over the place – specifically, across Taiwan, New Zealand, Australia and London – Chen’s lack of a lifelong hometown drove her quest to find consolation in music.
“Having moved so much when I was young is really interesting because there was that feeling… that there is no permanent home or community that I belonged to.”
Instead of letting this “rootlessness” isolate her, Chen transformed her lack of traditional home into her musical sanctuary. Because she was not anchored to a single place or community, she was liberated from the weight of tradition and rules. This fluidity allowed her to move through different genres with ease, unrestrained by convention.
Belle Chen
“That’s the most obvious way life has manifested itself in how I work.”
Her nomadic childhood also made it hard for her to make friends as a youngster. Growing up during “The Analogue Autumn”, an era when technology was an occasional tool rather than the centre of daily life, meant she could not nurture a bond across borders.
In that solitary period, the piano was the only constant that she could communicate with.
“That age of trying to figure out friendship was when I realised music is definitely a part of my life that I want to keep going forward with.”
The musical storyboard
Chen’s bond with the piano trained her mind to translate emotions into visual imagery. The 37-year-old describes her composition process as scoring a film running inside her head. Yet, her methodology is far from rigid or structured.
Instead, it is deeply intuitive, driven by vivid memories and raw feeling first. Only then do the technical arrangements follow naturally. That is how she made her 2024 album Revel in the Forest.
“It was several years ago when I was first entering (Australia) again that I found myself in this ancient rainforest in South East Queensland.
Belle Chen
“There was a time when I was really lost as a person and artiste, and I just remember standing there and looking at these magnificent, big trees and not doing anything, not doing much.”
Although she returned to London and did not think much of the trip immediately, she reckons that was when the “seeds of the album” were planted. When she eventually begun composing the album, she returned to that place in memory, capturing the awe she felt there and the vulnerability of being lost in nature.
“With each track, I started with a seed feeling – of searching, of conquering fear, of being lost in fear or of being in awe of
this vastness of nature. From that point, I grew the track. The feeling came first, texture and the melodies came after.”
Finding her voice
This intuitive approach was hard-won. Chen’s musical journey began in the strict, highly competitive world of classical training, culminating in studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
“I was doing competitions nationally and internationally in Australia and Europe. At the time, I also suffered from general anxiety (diagnosed). As I got older, I started speaking more openly about it.”
She quietly shared how the pressure from the “classical” music community pressured her more than it embraced her. The intense focus on perfection demanded by the classical community began to suffocate her. The relentless scrutiny over every minor chord and key change forced her to focus on mechanical precision rather than artistic expression.
Belle Chen
“The piece was written and everyone was playing it to a degree that was different but similar. Then, I started questioning where my role was in this context.”
Her tipping point came when she realised she did not want to tell another person’s story anymore but her own. However, carving her own path in the neoclassical space was a bumpy transition. Her experimental release, Listen London, was met with scepticism.
Some critics even mockingly asked if the track was recorded in a car park. Facing harsh criticism is incredibly difficult for any creator, especially when the work is born of personal vulnerability.
Finding herself back at square one, Chen chose to use that as an elixir for growth. Over the years, she kept herself grounded, even when legendary industry giants such as Brian Eno validated her work.
“It took about 10 years for me to reach where I am now. It wasn’t that I got the validation (from Eno) and therefore I’m invincible. I realised all the feedback helped inform who I am as a person, because every time I hear someone say something, it makes me think about my work.”
However, she did not deny taking the criticism to heart. Even so, she chose to intellectualise it to understand the reason. Eventually, she accepted that not everyone needs to like what she does or produces and that is where she evolved into her authentic self, musically.
Creating harmonies
Chen compared music production with a plant growing from the ground… ever growing, ever shifting. In the past, her process heavily relied on physical exploration.
“I used to work a lot with field recordings, using that as a foundation and manipulating it to find musicality in everyday sounds.
“Where I sit now, more in the neoclassical space, I draw from my experience of my work with field recordings a long time ago, in that I’m now able to recognise the sound and how to create that out of instruments.”
Belle Chen
Today, working primarily in the neoclassical space, she shared she now relies on the synthesiser to create sounds that she would once record from just walking around.
“Like Breezy, the single I just released, you’ll hear instances when it sounds like a seagull. It’s (actually) an electric piano that’s manipulated.”
Despite that, Chen does not rule out returning to her roots of making sounds. This evolution in production technology has also changed how she connects with her audience and music.
“When I wrote the last album, Revel in the Forest, I remember sitting down and the seeds grew in my mind. I wanted the experience of a listener to be similar to mine when I was in that forest and lost. And the immersive audio technology has enabled that.”
Looking ahead, Chen hopes to push the boundaries further by collaborating with visual artists on physical, multi-sensory installation work to bring her musical vision to life.
Threat of AI and the future
However, for any artiste, especially one who works heavily with technology, artificial intelligence (AI) stands as a terrifying adversary. Chen views the technology with caution, worrying about its impact on genuine artistic originality.
“I’m a bit worried. With all technology, it sometimes requires time for it to settle and to find its place.”
She then added that she is staying away from it. Her resistance to AI aligns with her desire for raw, human experience. Her creative output remains fiercely autobiographical, reflecting the spaces she occupies.
Belle Chen
“The new music I’m about to put out is what happens after I left the forest, and it’s quite interesting because everything I do is really truthful to what is happening in my life at the time.”
Fresh off her UK tour, in which she played 20 dates, Chen is set to tour China and Australia with Malaysia on the back burner for now, continuing to prove that classical music, when infused with human experience, is anything but niche.
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