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CHINA DAILY Wednesday, June 20, 2018 Vibes | YOUTH 19 music, Chen, who was taken to Aus­ tralia by his parents when he was 4 months old, says: “My Chinese background and my life in Austra­ lia both work on me as a violinist, so there is self­discipline and a laid­ CLASSY back mindset.” Chen started learning the violin at the age of 4 and was accepted into the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music at 15, where he studied SOUNDS with American violinist Aaron Rosand. Speaking about Rosand, now 91, who he visited while making this new album, Chen says: “When I told FROM A him that I wanted to bring a kind of intimacy to this new album, he understood me at once. We are still student and teacher.” Despite Chen’s talent, his progress GOLDEN as a musician was rocky. Chen, who was regarded as a child prodigy with “perfect pitch”, got his first exposure at 8 years old when he was invited to perform at the open­ AGE ing of the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics in Japan, his first overseas tour. Then, at 13, he won the Nation­ Violinist Ray Chen has just al Youth Concerto Competition in Australia, which bolstered his confi­ released a new album where he dence. But he failed to clear the entrance interprets celebrated pieces with test when he first applied to join the Curtis Institute of Music. his signature flair and ingenuity, And his biggest break did not Violinist Ray Chen performs at the come until he was 19 when he won Chen Nan reports. Beijing Concert Hall on June 10. the 2008 International Yehudi Men­ PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY uhin Violin Competition and the 2009 Queen Elisabeth Music Com­ petition. Speaking about that change in his he alarm rings. Violinist In The Golden Age, his first record­ violin concerto, performed with the French composer Erik Satie, with fortunes, Chen says: “Some of the Ray Chen opens his eyes ing with Decca Classics since sign­ London Philharmonic Orchestra an allusion to Italian composer competitors were about 14 or 15, and gets up from his bed. ing with the label last year, Chen under the baton of conductor Rob­ Gioachino Rossini’s William Tell much younger than me, so I had to After getting dressed, he features a selection of works, which ert Trevino and recorded last Overture. work hard to catch up. But the suc­ says: “Today is a special day!” This is T celebrate the “golden age” of the vio­ August. The piece, performed by Chen My Chinese cess enabled me to look at my career how a video which Chen directed lin — not only in terms of repertoire, The album also features composi­ and his Made in Berlin quartet, is differently.” unfolds. but also in terms of performance tions and arrangements by Austrian arranged by the group’s cellist Ste­ background and my In 2012, Chen became the young­ The video was made in Barcelona style and ingenuity. violinist Fritz Kreisler and US violin­ phan Koncz. est soloist to perform at the televised a week before his new album, The Instead of making a recording, ist Jascha Heifetz, which Chen per­ The other violinist in the quartet life in Australia both Nobel Prize Concert for the Nobel Golden Age, came out on June 8. which is “simply sticking a micro­ forms with French pianist Julien is Noah Bendix­Balgley, while Ami­ work on me as a laureates and the Swedish royal fam­ For the 29­year­old from Taiwan, phone in a room or hall and trying Quentin. hai Grosz plays the viola. ily. And, in 2015, Chen moved to Ber­ interacting with his fans through to produce the best version of the “The pieces go along with the title All of Chen’s collaborators in the violinist, so there is lin. videos is fun. So far, he has released piece”, Chen seeks to create some­ The Golden Age — a reference to my group are members of the Berlin Now, as one of the busiest young over 100 self­produced videos, com­ thing new in the studio. love for the great violinists of the Philharmonic and they recorded self­discipline and a violinists in the world, Chen has just bining comedy with music via social “What else can I add to these cele­ past, and also as a reference to my together in Berlin last November. wrapped up his tour of China from media. brated pieces, which have been per­ own coming of age, and entering Koncz has also arranged French laid­back mindset.” June 8 to 15, visiting Zhuhai, in Speaking about the videos, he says: formed by many other great what I believe is the next chapter of composer Claude Debussy’s Clair de Guangdong province, Xi’an, in “I want to show fans, especially the violinists? I won’t go into the tech­ my life as a musician,” says Chen. Lune and an Australian folk song, Ray Chen, 29, violinist Shaanxi province, and Suzhou, in young generation, that classical niques, but I think you’ll find that The new album opens with a Waltzing Matilda for the album. Jiangsu province. music can be fun.” the sound you hear in the recording piece called A New Satiesfaction for Chen, who was born in Taiwan As for the future, he is booked up It’s been four years since Chen is slightly different from what I did a string quartet, which has already and raised in Australia, selected Online: for performances until 2020. released a new album. Before this before.” garnered over 50,000 hits on Chen’s Waltzing Matilda for the album as a To see the video, new album, he released three The centerpiece of the new album YouTube channel. tribute to his second hometown. scan the code. Contact the writer at albums through Sony. is German composer Max Bruch’s It features Gymnopedie No 1 by Speaking about what drives his [email protected].

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