Stanford Cheung is a Canadian neo-speculative artist working across a variety of creative hubs as a classical concert pianist, sonic artist, improvisor, recording artist, and multi-disciplinary poet.

Described by the Toronto Weekly as “an artist of poetry and whole-hearted intellect,” Stanford has gained a reuptation for being a world-citizen of music. From piano concerto performances with orchestras, free-form poetry recitals, to electronic free-form improvisation for art installations, Stanford Cheung maintains an active performing career as a recitalist and soloist across North America, the UK, Canada, Asia, and Europe.

As a pianist, Stanford has performed at international venues including IKLECTIK, Carnegie Hall, The Royal Ontario Museum and The Living Arts Centre. Stanford has also held engagements with the Mississauga Symphony, the OCMS Philharmonic, and The Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra. He received his Master’s degree in piano performance from McGill University under the tutelage of Kyoko Hashimoto and a Bachelor’s from the University of Toronto studying with Marietta Orlov. He also holds a Fellowship in piano performance from the Trinity College of London, UK.

An advocate for new and experimental music, Stanford’s compositions are forthcoming on the cassette labels: Machine Tribe Recordings, Moon Villain Label, and Andata Express. Under the mentorship of Shahzad Ismaily, Stanford uses cross-disciplinary approaches to compose contemporary works that fuse technology, noise, electronics, improvisation, poetry, philosophy, and experimental notation into a variety of artistic contexts. These creations consist of commissions, publications, recordings, concert projects, and art installations which have been exhibited or forthcoming at institutions, including the Banff Centre for the Arts, The University of Edinburgh, Christchurch University, Osaka University, IKLECTIK, Lunenburg Academy for the Arts, the Orpheus Institute, the Kitakyushu Centre for Contemporary Arts, the Tokyo Poetry Journal, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Studio Kura, and The Film and Video Poetry Society. Stanford has also worked with a wide assemblage of musicians and researchers including Morgan Fisher, Steven. J. Fowler, Ichiro Fujinaga, Shahzad Ismaily, Nobuo Kubota, Henry McPherson, and Elae Moss.

Presently, Stanford is pursuing his Doctor of Music Degree at McGill University where he works as an instructor in interdisciplinary studies and dedicates his research to studying the Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. He also contributes his time to serve in the artistic committee of the CCC Toronto International Music Festival. Born in Toronto, Stanford was raised in a family of musicians. A multi-faceted individual, Stanford grew up painting, immersed in street-dance, and has learned to perform on several musical instruments. He is an avid tea enthusiast, insatiable book worm, and continues to develop a great passion for film.

Stanford leads the multimodal sonic project The Yuha Archive