“You can tell that his interests extend not just to playing the piano, but to being an artist citizen.” (Ohio News) 

Dominic Cheli embraces the role of an artist-citizen in his multifaceted career as performer, educator, composer, and director. He is described as an “inspired keyboardist” (artsfuse) whose playing is “spontaneous yet perfect, the best of how a young person can play.” (Symphony Magazine). His rapidly advancing career included his Walt Disney Concert Hall Debut with the Colburn Orchestra where Dominic was “mesmerizing, (he) transfixed the audience.” (LA Times). He gave his Carnegie Hall Recital Debut in 2019 and has had a busy performing and recording career ever since. He recorded his 2nd CD on the Naxos label of the music of Liszt/Schubert, and was a performer/producer/editor on a 3rd CD of the music of Erwin Schulhoff for the Delos Label featuring his collaboration on Piano Concerto no.2 with Maestro James Conlon. He also recently completed work as a composer, audio editor and performer on the documentary Defying Gravity (2021). 

A native of St. Louis, Dominic has performed with orchestras all across the country and abroad including the San Diego Symphony, Sarasota Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony, Columbus Symphony, Princeton Symphony, Colburn Orchestra, Virginia Symphony, Adrian Symphony, and the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie (Germany). He has worked with conductors such as James Conlon, Gerard Schwarz, Valery Gergiev and many others. Dominic debuted at several major festivals across the United States including the Ravinia Festival, Mostly Mozart Festival, and the Virginia Arts Festival. Upcoming engagements include appearances with the Seattle Symphony, a debut at Alice Tully Hall, and his 4th appearance at Carnegie Hall. 

As a recording artist, Cheli’s albums have been met with acclaim. Musicweb-international hailed Cheli’s 1st album, featuring the music of Muzio Clementi, as “definitive performances” and his 2021 album, Liszt: Schubert transcriptions, as “utterly brilliant”. Also in 2017, Dominic was named 1st prize winner of the Concert Artists Guild Competition in New York City. 

With a fascination and appreciation for the benefits of technology especially in our new virtual age, Dominic is the head of Tonebase Piano, an online education company. As a result, he leads content strategy, directing, and production with some of the greatest pianists in the world both in cinematic videos and interactive livestreams to the 25,000+ piano subscribers on the platform. His mission is to share personal knowledge and democratize high-level music education, allowing everyone to learn from and be inspired by the best!

Committed to engaging with his surrounding community, Dominic regularly performs and brings curated programs/educational residencies to schools and retirement homes. He is a member of the Darshan Trio alongside Vijay Gupta, and Yoshi Masuda. The trio juxtaposes chamber music and new music, creating mosaic and interdisciplinary programs that allow one to see masterpieces of the repertoire in new ways. In addition, the trio performs with Street Symphony, an organization centered in practices of relationship, renewal, re-entry, and recovery, presenting musical programs in Skid Row built on sustained relationships and partnerships with Skid Row organizations and community individuals.

Dominic has received degrees from the Manhattan School of Music, Yale University, and the Colburn School studying with Zena Ilyashov, Andre-Michel Schub, Peter Frankl, and Fabio Bidini. 

Mr. Cheli is a Yamaha Artist and recently appointed faculty member of the Colburn Community Music School.
 In his spare time, Dominic enjoys cooking and training for Ironman triathlons.