Chloe Flower: A Pianist Combining the Pop and Classical Genres To Transcend the Traditional Boundaries of Music

Chloe Flower’s first love was her piano. At first mostly focused on mastering classical pieces by composers such as Beethoven and Bach, Chloe was influenced by pop stars such as Destiny’s Child and Rihanna and their performances and looked to find ways to incorporate pop into her classical music. “Growing up, when I was trained as a classical pianist, I was taught my whole entire life that there is no audience because as a pianist the piano faces away from the audience. I was taught to block them out,” she recalls. Yet pop stars dominated the stage and captivated audiences, something classical music seemed set up to oppose. By combining the pop and classical genres through her “popsical” genre, Chloe’s ingenuity has broken the boundaries of the music industry.

GOWN by BLACK ALESSANDRA RICH / RING is VINTAGE / HAT is a VINTAGE 1940'S HAT from A PRIVATE COLLECTION / NECKLACE is VINTAGE 1920'S / EARRINGS are STYLIST'S OWN

As she explored the variety of elements she could draw into her musical experimentation and performances, Chloe realized that social media allowed her to expand her audience and receive a broad range of feedback with every new piece she tried. Playing piano over “Despacito” was not something she ever expected her audience would enjoy, but the response was overwhelmingly positive. “It definitely changed the trajectory of my career,” she emphasizes, “not only in terms of audience growth but the inspiration I found in the ideas that poured into my comments, creating new neural pathways and pushing the boundaries of my music.”

Social media isn’t the only way technology has impacted Chloe’s career. When she first signed with Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds’s Sodapop/Island Def Jam, technology became an increasingly prominent element in her creative process. She learned to utilize software such as Logic Pro, a stark contrast to the Garage Band technology she was previously using, and was able to sit in the studio and observe as producers went about their work. Chloe’s process for composing transformed as technology played a greater role in her sound. Once satisfied with the piano, she writes a drum program underneath, followed by adding strings. After these base elements are laid together, she goes in reverse order and fixes each layer repeatedly to match the other elements until she is satisfied. 

In turn, this collaborative, high-tech procedure juxtaposes the way in which she composes her pure piano pieces like Flower Through Concrete. For piano pieces such as these, Chloe begins with the intro, fully developing her left-hand harmonies before beginning with the right. From there, she listens to her left-hand harmonies on loop as she plays over it with her right hand. While this general process took roughly a day for Flower Through Concrete, it was the hook for this piece that took her weeks to get perfect. 

The work was well worth it and Chloe credits this song as the moment she found her voice. “This was very much a sound I never thought I could release,” Chloe admits, thinking back on when the thought of straying from classical music standards seemed like a career blunder. As she reflects on the pop structure and melody melding together with the classical sounds heard throughout her song, Chloe feels affirmed that this is her sound. 

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Chloe’s career-defining moments have a recurring theme of breaking the traditional boundaries of her industry. “I was taught my whole entire life to think that I am spotlit and there is no audience,” Chloe explains while recounting her classical training. The Friday before she was set to perform with Cardi B at the Grammys, she noticed the cameras were face down during sound check, and she questioned whether she was supposed to look up and into the lens. “If you feel it, do it, just as long as it’s authentic,” the creative director advised. Though she hadn’t planned on it, in the midst of her performance Chloe looked directly into the camera, capturing the attention of millions of watchers. She described it as a completely and utterly transformative experience. “When you’re dealing with a pop audience you have to engage, and you have to look at them to be part of the experience and feed off their energy.” 

“When you’re dealing with a pop audience you have to engage, and you have to look at them to be part of the experience and feed off their energy.” 

Moments after that life-altering performance, Chloe cried with immediate regret. Her choice went against every painstaking ounce of training she’d been taught—and yet that split decision to look up was the most pivotal moment in her performing career.  

Chloe notes how the standards of the current music industry in addition to the virality of social media content have allowed her to experience these turning points and embrace her popsical sound. She mentions how predecessors such as Bruce Dukov, a world renowned violinist, made the same musical breakthroughs, but perhaps did so 20 years too early. The culmination of the perfect set of circumstances and timing allowed Chloe to experiment beyond traditional boundaries of music, but it is always the combination of the right person at the right time that makes history.

While stigma against classical instruments taking prominent roles in other music genres persists, Chloe believes as more musicians, new and veterans alike, experiment with the meddling of classical sounds with other genres, it will become widely accepted. Taking old concepts and implementing new ideas is the cornerstone of innovation, and Chloe believes music, just like everything else, must constantly evolve. While many argue that certain art forms, such as classical music, should stay elite, Chloe argues that “if Beethoven were alive or especially Mozart, they would be rocking out.” She continues, “I think they would be experimenting with synth sounds and 808 because you have to move with your time.”

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Representation, Chloe reiterates, is the key to breaking boundaries and creating change. This concept rings true twofold for Chloe, as she not only embeds classical instruments within the structure of popular music but makes a point to emphasize Asian American representation. Both her recent music video, Flower Through Concrete, and the video that released today, Carol of the Bells, are directed by Deb Tam, an Asian American female director. Chloe emphasizes her cultural heritage proudly as she makes waves in the music industry. 

For Chloe, the genre of popsical remains fluid. While hip hop and classical music remain major aspects of her personal style, she reiterates that sounds can come from anywhere but no single influence is all-encompassing. Her classical roots will always hold a special place in her heart, but she does not want to “play someone else’s work the way it was written” for the rest of her life. Composing is a somewhat newer element in her career, and she is determined to grow and not allow fear to hinder her from exploring new endeavors. After all, it is the moments where she pushed past the fears ingrained in her by a heavily structured industry that transformed her career path. As she looks back on these moments, she declares, “I feel much more confident when it comes to trying new things because when you try something new you just have to do it and be okay with the fact that everyone might hate it.”

STORY JAMIE YI
PHOTOS ROB BERRY
HAIR JENNIFER YEPEZ
MAKEUP DANIEL MARTIN
STYLIST COLIN LOCASCIO