HAN CHEN / PIANO

Hailed by as a pianist with "a graceful touch... rhythmic precision... hypnotic charm” and "sure, subtle touch," Han Chen is a distinctive artist whose credentials at a young age already include important prizes in competitions of traditional music as well as increasing respect in the avant- garde.

Mr. Chen’s debut CD with Naxos Records, which consists of all-Liszt operatic transcriptions, was released in January 2016 as the first prize winner of the 6th China International Piano Competition. Gramophone complimented Mr. Chen’s “brilliant performance” in the CD as “impressively commanding and authoritative.” The website Classics Today also praised for his “assured, elegant and totally effortless technique” by scoring 10 out of 10 in both artistic quality and sound quality. International Piano magazine (UK) described Mr. Chen’s performance in the competition as “[Chen] displayed extraordinary strength, talent and flair.” His performances in the 15th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, the 15th Piano Competition and the 2018 Honens International Piano Competition were also highly acclaimed. As a soloist, Mr. Chen has appeared with many , including the Hong Kong Philharmonic (under Maestro Vladimir Ashkenazy), Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, China Symphony Orchestra, Macao Orchestra, Juilliard Orchestra, National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, Xiamen National Orchestra, Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra, Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival Brass Ensemble and Shanghai Conservatory Middle School Orchestra.

Being an advocate for modern music, Mr. Chen actively performs music from the 20th and the 21st century. As a member of the New York-based contemporary music group Ensemble Échappé, he worked with such as Tonia Ko, Kevin Puts, Sean Shepherd and Nina Young. At the Academy founded by , he worked with composers , and Johannes Maria Staud, conductors , Matthias Pintscher and . His close collaboration with the Juilliard modern music ensemble AXIOM led him to the performance of music by , Pierre Boulez, John Cage, Toshio Hosokawa, Gyorgy Kurtag, , Steve Reich and Charles Wuorinen. He celebrated John Cage’s centennial birthday in 2012 by performing his complete Sonatas and Interludes in Paul Hall, Juilliard. His recital at the Spectrum, the new-music hub in New York, where he played music by , Missy Mazzoli, Milica Paranosic and Caroline Shaw, was on the critic’s pick of Time Out New York and I Care If You Listen.

Native of Taichung, Taiwan, Mr. Chen moved to Shanghai at the age of nine, where he attended the Shanghai Conservatory Elementary & Middle Schools. His teachers included Meng-hua Wu, Tsuifong Hung, Siyi Wu, Christopher Zhong and Kuan-wen Wang. After his study in Shanghai, he moved to New York and received his accelerated Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree of Music from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Professor Yoheved Kaplinsky. He then enrolled in the Graduate Diploma program at the New England Conservatory, where he studied with Professor Wha Kyung Byun. He was a recipient of the C/ Kaplan Piano Scholarship, the Susan W. Rose Piano Fellowship, the Van Cliburn Alumni Scholarship and the Tan Family Education Grant. He currently resides in Long Island City, pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts at the CUNY Graduate Center under the tutelage of Prof. Kaplinsky and Prof. .

For more information: hanchenpiano.com