Raphael Chou is a pianist, vocal coach, and repetiteur. A native of Louisville, KY, his life as a pianist began from early encouragement to accompany his church and school choirs. He has collaborated in art song recitals throughout the Midwest with Stanford Olsen, Nicholas Phan, Emily Albrink, and Freddy Ballentine. As a choral pianist, Raphael has performed with the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington D.C., playing in the 2025 World Pride concert, which garnered attention due to the Kennedy Center’s surprise programming revisions. In 2022, he played the Chicago-premiere of Jake Heggie’s Two Remain, and was subsequently invited to perform a piano version of the opera as part of the Illinois E. & Phillip Glass concert series. Raphael most recently finished his Specialist Degree (AD) from the University of Michigan and will be joining the Baumgartner studio artists at Florentine Opera this fall for their 26-27’ season. In every day life, he loves discovering world foods, playing tennis, and animal documentaries. His favorite is the elephant.