Chi-Yuan Chen
viola

ChiYuanChen2
Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Chi-Yuan Chen is recognized as one of the leading violists in his country. In 1999, Mr. Chen became the first violist to win the New England Conservatory Concerto Competition since the institution’s inception in 1867 and made his American concerto debut performing the Walton Viola Concerto in Boston’s Jordan Hall. In the summer of 2000, he received the Henri Kohn award from the Tanglewood Music Center for his outstanding musicianship and contribution. Mr. Chen is a two-time winner of the National Viola Competition in Taiwan and was the third prize winner of the 2004 International Paris Viola Competition Ville d’Avray.

Mr. Chen began violin study at the age of 6 and made his public debut in Taiwan at age 10. The following year, he switched to viola and shortly thereafter made his string quartet debut in Hong Kong at the City Cultural Center. As a concert violist, Mr. Chen toured internationally performing at the White House in Washington, D. C., Suntory Hall in Tokyo, National Concert Hall in Taiwan, City Hall in Hong Kong, Carnegie Hall in New York, Disney Hall and Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, to name a few.

Prior to his arrival in the United States in 1998, Mr. Chen performed as principal violist with a number of orchestras in Taiwan including the Taipei Metropolitan Symphony, Taiwan String Orchestra, the Taipei Opera Symphony Orchestra, and the Taipei Century Orchestra, among others. Among 194 international applicants, he was also qualified as one of the four top players for the Metropolitan Orchestra’s assistant principal viola position. As a soloist, Mr. Chen performed concerti with the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, the Taipei Civic Symphony Orchestra and the National Defense Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Chen is an active and seasoned chamber music performer. He was the violist for a string quartet that was a three-time winner of the Honors String Quartet Competition at the New England Conservatory. This quartet also won the silver medal at the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition as the youngest group in the senior division. As a guest artist, he has performed with numerous ensembles, including the Boston Chamber Music Society, Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra, and the Gardner Museum Chamber Ensemble in Boston, where he was the principal violist for three years. He has collaborated with many distinguished artists including members of the Arditti, Brentano, Emerson, Guarneri, Mendelssohn and Miami String Quartets, the Cleveland Quartet, Colin Carr, Ani Kavafian, Yo-Yo Ma, Kurt Masur, Paula Robison, Seiji Ozawa, among others.

In recent years, his repertoire has grown to include contemporary masterpieces including the American premiere of Elliott Carter’s ASKO concerto. Other influential contemporary composers he has worked and performed with include John Corigliano, John Harbison, Toshio Hosokawa, George Perle and Jean-Louis Petit.

Mr. Chen holds a Doctoral degree from State University of New York at Stony Brook; both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree from the New England Conservatory, where he received highest distinction on both degrees. His teachers include Ben Lin, James Dunham, Martha Katz, Katherine Murdock and Nobuko Imai.

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