Researching Charlie Chan

Having studied piano, guitar, double bass, orchestration and computer-based music technology in her childhood, Chan's public career began in the 1990s with a series of original jazz, classical, improvisation and world-music inspired albums on the Sony Masterworks classical label. At this time, she gained a reputation for blending acoustic and electronic music. Throughout her career she has been a pioneer of multimedia and digital technology to create, promote and distribute her work.

Chan is co-founder and artistic director of the Global Orchestra. Founded in 2013, the Global Orchestra connects musicians from around the world, with the ambitious vision to use music as an agent for social and environmental change. Utilising state of the art technology, its Concerts for the Planet have involved thousands of musicians in more than 350 locations globally.

She is also the creator of Museful Live, providing broadcast-quality weekly music meditations on her social media channels, and promoting music, meditation and mindfulness as a pathway to wellbeing.  

Throughout her prolific career, Chan has been commissioned to compose soundtracks for feature films, television series, documentaries and stage productions. Highlights include soundtracks for feature film Me Myself I, long-running television drama McLeod's Daughters, and the 2011 Australian television crime-drama series Killing Time starring David Wenham.

Charlie Chan composes on her primary instrument – a 97-key Bosendorfer Imperial Grand 290 piano – and records in her HD 3 studio, combining state-of-the-art technology with collectable vintage microphones and recording equipment.

She was awarded Best Music Performance at the Melbourne Fringe Festival in 1997, and has also been nominated for two APRA (Australian Performing Rights Assoc.) Awards for Best Music for a Television Series and Best Film Score. She has also received three AGSC (Australian Guild of Screen Composers) nominations for Best Soundtrack Album, Best Music for a Feature Film, and Best Music for a Documentary.

Chan's live concert appearances include the State Theatre Sydney and Melbourne Town Hall. She performed at the Sydney Opera House in the mid-1990s for the first online live broadcast of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras annual event launch. In November 2019 Chan performed at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, as part of the UNICEF summit held on World Children's Day to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Together with PS22 Chorus, a 60-strong children's choir from Staten Island, Chan performed her original song We The Children inspired by Damon Gameau's climate change documentary 2040.