Winner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition (2009) and the Yehudi Menuhin Competition (2008) and is among the most compelling young violinists today. “Ray has proven himself to be a very pure musician with great qualities such as a beautiful youthful tone, vitality and lightness. He has all the skills of a truly musical interpreter,” said his friend and mentor Maxim Vengerov.

Mr. Chen’s premiere album Virtuoso, released worldwide on Sony Classical in January 2011, won prestigious Echo Klassik Award 2011. The recording has received glowing reviews from a range of major publications including The Times and Chicago Tribune, which named it the “CD of the week”. Following the success of this album, Ray Chen was profiled by The Strad and Gramophone magazines as “the one to watch”. His 2011 recital tour featuring Virtuoso repertoire included Tokyo, Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, Zurich, and Dresden.

“The musicianship of Ray Chen is just as exciting as that of Gustavo Dudamel. He seems to have it all: instantly recognizable tone, charismatic personality and musical authority unusual for his age. He is at the beginning of a major career and it is a privilege to build it with him,” says Bogdan Roscic, President of Sony Classical. Ray Chen is currently working on his next CD with Daniel Harding and the Swedish Radio Orchestra. For this first orchestral recording, slated for worldwide release in January 2012, he chose the Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn concertos, which have particular personal significance as the pieces he played in the final rounds of the two competitions.

Ray Chen continues to win the admiration of fans and fellow musicians worldwide. This year’s Verbier and Dresden Festival debuts resulted in immediate re-engagements in 2012. He received standing ovations at Ravinia and Schleswig-Holstein, where he was featured by the Munich Philharmonic. One of the highlights of the last season was a sold-out performance with the Seoul Philharmonic and Maestro Myung-Whun Chung at the Asian Games Festival in Guangzhou. He is looking forward to his upcoming engagements with the Filarmonica della Scala, National Orchestra of Spain, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, and Israel Philharmonic, among others.

Born in Taiwan and raised in Australia, Ray Chen was accepted to the Curtis Institute of Music at the age of 15, where he studied with Aaron Rosand. Mr. Chen plays the 1721 “Macmillan” Stradivarius provided as part of the award for winning the 2008-09 Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York.

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Selected press quotes:

It’s violin playing of the highest order. It’s not just Ray Chen’s superb technique, but his sense of pacing in the music that is so striking: there’s always time for the music to unfold, even at speed. THIS IS A HUGELY EXCITING DEBUT ALBUM.
BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE, March 2011

Avoiding the temptation to go for the wow factor, he generates tremendous power and control in the virtuoso passages but then introduces a tone of sweet intimacy. Chen underlines the acclaim he’s reaped LEAVING [HIS AUDIENCE] IMPATIENT FOR MORE.
CLASSIC FM, April 2011

[Ray Chen] plays with a maturity that scarcely suggests someone still only 21. COLORS DANCE, MOODS SWING, AND CHEN’S ARTISTRY BLAZES.
THE TIMES, February 2011

RAY CHEN CAN DO PRETTY MUCH ANYTHING HE WANTS ON THE VIOLIN.
Chen makes a beautiful sound but doesn’t get lost in tone for its own sake; he knows how to make a sound that feels exactly right for the piece in question.
WASHINGTON POST, December 2009

CHEN’S PLAYING EMBODIES A REMARKABLY MALLEABLY PURITY. Rarely, in fact, have I heard a musician maintain so assertive an interpretive presence without upstaging the music itself.
FINANCIAL TIMES, March 2011

With a tone ranging from finely spun to deep burgundy, complete technical and elegant musical command, he makes each piece his own. Keep your ear on Ray Chen. From the evidence of this disc, HE IS AN EXCEPTIONAL TALENT.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE, January 2011

STYLISH AND REFINED … SUPERB.
DIE ZEIT, February 2011

From the first notes there was no doubt of being in THE PRESENCE OF SOMETHING SPECIAL.
THE STRAD, January 2011

Even when the music is technically complex, he’s also A THOUGHTFUL PLAYER, ABLE TO CAPTIVATE THE LISTENER. He makes the virtuoso tricks sound really beautiful.
GRAMOPHONE, February 2011

Anyone who has ever heard Ray Chen play knows that he is a truly exceptional talent. Not only does his debut album showcase the virtuosity of his playing, it also highlights a considerable imagination and a refined sense of style. [RAY CHEN] IS ONE OF THE GREATEST HOPES OF THE VIOLIN WORLD.
RONDO, January 2011

For the Chaconne, Chen sets the bar very high, imposing a reading that is very rigorous and very imaginative at the same time. IT’S PURE POETRY.
CLASSICA FRANCE, January 2011

Behind his playing hides enormous control and a well thought-out vision, but once he is on stage, he creates the impression that everything flows out of his violin spontaneously. HIS WHOLE PERFORMANCE WAS OUT OF THIS WORLD.
DE STADAARD, 2009

This captivates those in thrall to vintage values …RAVISHING SOUND in a crystal-clear acoustic. His rhythmic inevitability reminiscent of Itzhak Perlman. Despite his new world identity, CHEN SEEMS AT ONE WITH THIS OLD WORLD MUSIC.
LISTEN, January 2009

[Ray Chen] produced trills TO DIE FOR. He had the kind of liquid tone that carries with it EMOTIONAL DEPTH OF GREAT INTIMACY.
THE HUFFINGTON POST, February 2011