CHORD CONNECTIONS
Brendan Tan
Founder
Brendan Tan is a senior at Stuyvesant High School. He has been a competitive classical pianist for over 13 years, winning numerous competitions and performing solo at concert halls including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center more than 10 times. He has also played the drums for 10 years and has knowledge in other genres of piano such as blues and pop. He enjoys music and was the Music Director overseeing the band orchestra for his high school’s musical production. Through Chord Connections, Brendan hopes to use music as a way to connect with the community and inspire change. Outside of music, he also loves to play basketball and was captain of his high school basketball team.
Sophia Chen
Co-Founder / Outreach Director
Sophia Chen is a senior at Stuyvesant High School. She has been playing classical music since she was five years old, starting from the piano and then also learning the cello when she was seven. She has had the opportunity to perform in many different places including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and has participated in many masterclasses with musicians from the Chamber Music Society at Lincoln Center as well as the NY Phil. When she was young, she looked up to the older musicians at her music program, and through Chord Connections, she hopes to spread music to different communities and be able to inspire others, especially younger kids into joining the community.
Yuxuan Che
Co-Founder
Yuxuan Che is a senior at Stuyvesant High School. He met Brendan Tan in freshman year, discovering their passion for music and becoming friends. Yuxuan has been playing guitar for 3 years and received classical piano education when he was younger. He loves digital audio engineering and production, as well as physical audio mixing. He is also an active member of the All-City Modern Music Project and a close pupil of distinguished music producer and Songwriters Hall of Fame Chair, Harold Stephan. At Stuyvesant, Yuxuan was part of every theatrical production as lead guitarist for the band and composed various pieces of music for the band-orchestra. He seeks to use Chord Connections as a way to use his passion for music to inspire a positive impact in communities.
Alex Pyun
Co-Founder
Alex Pyun is a senior at Laguardia High School and will be entering the Juilliard Precollege Classical Voice program. Alex has won numerous awards as a baritone, such as 1st place in the American International Music Competition (2025), Semi-Finalist in the CS Music Competition (2024), and most promising Sophomore at the Regional Schmidt Competition in Montclair, NJ (2025). Alex is a firm believer in the transformational power of music and hopes to connect with audiences of all backgrounds and create positive change through performance. Through Chord Connections, Alex strives to cultivate hope, connection, and growth for listeners and inspire a new generation of musicians.
Troye Kim
Executive Director
Daniel Hall
Performance Director
Isabella Deng
Graphic Designer