Zhen Chen

Hailed as “brilliant” by Fanfare Magazine, multi-award winning pianist-composer Zhen Chen has performed as a soloist and chamber music artist at prominent music venues in USA and China, such as Stern Auditorium, Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall of Lincoln Center, Preston Bradley Hall of the Chicago Cultural Center, and China National Centre for Performing Arts. His live performances and recordings have been broadcasted by Chicago WFMT 98.7, Princeton WPRB 103.3 WCNY Classic FM and China Central Television Music Channel among others.

Mr. Chen has worked with prominent violinists Maxim Vengerov, Cho-Liang Lin, Elmira Darvarova and outstanding instrumentalists of the New York Philharmonic and the Orchestra of Metropolitan Opera in concert and recording engagements. His debut recording FAURÉ, SCHUMANN, BARTÓK Sonatas for Violin and Piano (MSR Classics, 2014) in collaboration with acclaimed violinist Shuai Shi has received plaudits from listeners and critics worldwide. Fanfare Magazine describes the recording as “inexpressibly beautiful” and a “perfect balance” with “sheer beauty of tone, fluent and fluid playing, and emotional refinement.”

Mr. Chen also wears another hat as a performer-composer who bridges Eastern and Western sensibility and musicality. His recent cross-culture and cross-genre composition works were crystalized in the albums ERGO: New Music for Piano and Chinese Folk Instruments (Navona/Naxos, 2017) and On & Between: New Music for Pipa and Western Ensembles (Navona/Naxos, 2018). The latter won the Gold Medal of Global Music Awards for Best Album and Best Instrumentalists.

Mr. Chen received a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and a master’s degree in piano performance under Dr. Arkady Aronov at Manhattan School of Music in New York City, where he also earned a master’s degree in collaborative piano and chamber music with Heasook Rhee.

Discography