Pianist and conductor Chad Heltzel resides in Montréal, Québec, where he currently serves as the music director of the Montreal West Operatic Society. A versatile artist, he remains active concertizing as both a soloist and collaborative pianist. He has performed in major venues across North America including recitals at the Place des Arts, the Portland Piano International concert series and the Glenn Gould Studio. He has also been broadcast on National Public Radio and CBC Radio 2, La Chaîne Culturelle. In addition to his concertizing, Dr. Heltzel has been invited as a lecture-recitalist at Syracuse University, the University of Victoria and McGill University. His work with opera has inspired "Singing with Two Hands," a lecture-recital dedicated to developing useful techniques in guiding the pianist's interpretation of the singing line. A private student of renowned Schenkerian scholar Carl Schachter, Dr. Heltzel's research in the subject led to a bilingual paper given at l'Université de Montréal entitled "Schenkerian Analysis for Performers."

A native of Portland, Oregon, Dr. Heltzel came to Canada in 1999 to pursue his music studies at the Glenn Gould School in Toronto with John Perry. He later went on to finish his graduate studies in piano at l'Université de Montréal with Marc Durand. His conducting teachers have included Alexis Hauser, Lutz Köhler and Kenneth Kiesler.