Ray Chen is a violinist who redefines what it is to be a classical musician in the 21st Century. His presence on social media makes Mr. Chen a pioneer in an artist’s interaction with the audience. Through his online promotions his appearances regularly sell out and draw an entirely new demographic to the concert hall.
The Sydney Morning Herald declared,” Ray Chen is the epitome of cool, yet a man with a zany, anarchic and public sense of humor, combined in a world-class violin virtuoso with a technique of fire and ice.”
He has appeared with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Munich Philharmonic, Filarmonica della Scala, Orchestra Nazionale della Santa Cecilia, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. His upcoming debuts include the San Francisco Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Berlin Radio Symphony, and Bavarian Radio Chamber Orchestra. He works with conductors such as Riccardo Chailly, Vladimir Jurowski, Sakari Oramo, Manfred Honeck, Daniele Gatti, Kirill Petrenko, Krystof Urbanski, and Juraj Valcuha, among others.
Mr. Chen was featured in the Forbes list of 30 most influential Asians under 30, appeared in the online TV series, “Mozart in the Jungle,” enjoyed a multi-year partnership with Giorgio Armani (who designed the cover of his Mozart album with Christoph Eschenbach), and performed at major media events such as France’s Bastille Day which was broadcast live to 800,000 people, and the Nobel Prize Concert which was telecast across Europe.
He is the first musician to write a lifestyle blog for the largest Italian publishing house, RCS Rizzoli. He has been featured in Vogue magazine and is currently releasing his own violin case design. His commitment to music education is paramount. He inspires the younger generation of music students with his series of self-produced videos combining comedy and music.
Born in Taiwan and raised in Australia, Mr. Chen was accepted to the Curtis Institute of Music at age 15, where he studied with Aaron Rosand. He plays the 1715 Stradivarius violin on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation. This instrument was once owned by the famed Hungarian violinist, Joseph Joachim (1831-1907).