Dr. Christine Utomo is a pianist, educator, and Associate Professor of Piano at Chengdu University, China, and Artistic Director of Irama Music Studio, Indonesia — a music academy founded in 1983 that she has led since 2007. Praised by Chinese Weibo Weekly Broadcast as the pianist who "breathed new life into Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto in C minor," she brings to her work a rare combination of international performance experience and deep pedagogical commitment.

 

As a soloist, Dr. Utomo has performed at venues across the United States, Europe, China, and Indonesia, including Shanghai Cadillac Concert Hall, Aula Simfonia Jakarta, Fort Revelin Hall Dubrovnik, Ratusz Hall Torun, and Chengdu University ASEAN Concert Hall. She has appeared as soloist with the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, Jakarta Sinfonietta Orchestra, Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra, and Torun Symphony Radio Orchestra. Recent highlights include her debut performance of Chopin's complete Ballades and Scherzi at Yun Artified Community Art Center, Jakarta, in August 2024. As a collaborative pianist, she has performed alongside violinist Iskandar Widjaja and cellist Tina Guo, with whom she released two recorded singles.

​

Her teaching spans students of all ages and levels — from early childhood music to advanced conservatoire preparation. She initiated the Early Childhood Music program at Irama Music Studio in 2013, drawing on Kodály and Edwin Gordon pedagogy, and became a licensed Kindermusik educator in 2014. Her students have won prizes at national and international competitions and have been accepted into universities in the United States, Europe, and China. She is a regular adjudicator at Indonesian piano competitions, including the Ananda Sukarlan Award, Steinway Piano Competition, and UPH National Piano Competition.

​

Beyond teaching and performing, Dr. Utomo is an active contributor to music education discourse. Her "Beethoven 250th Anniversary" online lecture series, organized during the pandemic, drew participants internationally and covered score analysis, interpretation, performance practice, and contemporary music. She has served as guest lecturer for Dr. Johannes Nugroho's piano pedagogy series and regularly organizes community concerts, masterclasses, and outreach programs.

Her current research interests include music education in cross-cultural contexts and contemporary piano music, with particular attention to the intersection of Southeast Asian and Chinese musical traditions.

​

Dr. Utomo completed her Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance at the USC Thornton School of Music, where she also earned her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees. She studied extensively with Norman Krieger, and has worked with Philippe Entremont, Angela Hewitt, Malcolm Bilson, Mikhail Voskressensky, and others. She began piano study at the age of five under her mother, Ms. Lindawaty Angkasa.