Portrait Ray Chen

Ray Chen

Violin
© John Mac
Germany, Austria, Switzerland

Ray Chen is a violinist who redefines what it is to be a classical musician in the 21st Century. With a media presence that enhances and inspires the classical audience, reaching out to millions through his unprecedented online following, Ray Chen's remarkable musicianship transmits to a global audience that is reflected in his engagements with the foremost orchestras and concert halls around the world.

Initially coming to attention via the Yehudi Menuhin (2008) and Queen Elizabeth (2009) Competitions, of which he was First Prize winner, he has built a profile in Europe, Asia, and the USA as well as his native Australia both live and on disc. Signed in 2017 to Decca Classics, the summer of 2017 saw the recording of the first album of this partnership with the London Philharmonic as a succession to his previous three critically acclaimed albums on SONY, the first of which (“Virtuoso”) received an ECHO Klassik Award. Profiled as “one to watch” by the Strad and Gramophone magazines, his profile has grown to encompass his featuring in the Forbes list of 30 most influential Asians under 30, appearing in major online TV series Mozart in the Jungle, a multi-year partnership with Giorgio Armani (who designed the cover of his Mozart album with Christoph Eschenbach) and performing at major media events such as France’s Bastille Day (live to 800,000 people), the Nobel Prize Concert in Stockholm (telecast across Europe), and the BBC Proms.

Ray has performed with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Munich Philharmonic, Filarmonica della Scala, Orchestra Nazionale della Santa Cecilia, Los Angeles Philharmonic, SWR Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Berlin Radio Symphony, and Bavarian Radio Chamber Orchestra. He works with conductors such as Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Riccardo Chailly, Daniele Gatti, Vladimir Jurowski, Sakari Oramo, Manfred Honeck, Kirill Petrenko, Krystof Urbanski and Juraj Valcuha. From 2012–2015 he was resident at the Dortmund Konzerthaus and during the 17/18 season was an “Artist Focus” with the Berlin Radio Symphony.

His presence on social media makes Ray Chen a pioneer in an artist’s interaction with their audience, utilising the new opportunities of modern technology. His appearances and interactions with music and musicians are instantly disseminated to a new public in a contemporary and relatable way. He is an ambassador for SONY Electronics, a music consultant for Riot Games - the leading esports company best known for League of Legends, and has been featured in Vogue magazine. He released his own design of a violin case for the industry manufacturer GEWA and proudly plays Thomastik Infeld strings. His commitment to music education is paramount, and inspires the younger generation of music students with his series of self-produced videos combining comedy, education and music. Through his online promotions his appearances regularly sell out and draw an entirely new demographic to the concert hall.

In the 2022/2023 season, Ray Chen will be touring Europe with The Knights and appear with his quartet Made in Berlin.

Born in Taiwan and raised in Australia, Ray was accepted to the Curtis Institute of Music at age 15, where he studied with Aaron Rosand and was supported by Young Concert Artists. He plays the 1714 “Dolphin” Stradivarius violin on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation. This instrument was once owned by the famed violinist, Jascha Heifetz.




15. January 2024 - 20:00

Antwerpen, Koningin Elisabethzaal

Peter Iljitsch Tschaikowsky: Konzert für Violine und Orchester op. 35

Info & Tickets



16. January 2024 - 20:15

Eindhoven, Muziekgebouw Frits Philips Eindhoven

Peter Iljitsch Tschaikowsky: Konzert für Violine und Orchester op. 35

Info & Tickets



17. January 2024 - 20:00

München, Herkulessaal der Residenz

Peter Iljitsch Tschaikowsky: Konzert für Violine und Orchester op. 35

Info & Tickets



  • "Ray Chen spielt eine Stradivari und weiß mit ihrem brillanten, satten, durchaus auch harten Ton viel anzufangen, ist ein stupender Techniker, dazu im Auftreten von mitreißender Leidenschaft."
    Frankfurter Rundschau
    Judith von Sternburg: „Ehrlichste Handarbeit", in: Frankfurter Rundschau, Nr 117, 20.05.2022
  • "Chen gibt alles, und das Publikum liebt ihn dafür."
    Hamburger Abendblatt
    Verena Fischer-Zernin: „Etwas Plüsch aus der Mailänder Scala für die Elbphilharmonie", in: Hamburger Abendblatt, 20.05.2022
  • "Chen kostet den Solopart genüsslich aus und strukturierte ihn mit geschmackvollen Rubati in blitzsauberer Intonation und Sanglichkeit."
    Frankfurter Neue Presse
    Markus Kuhn: „Ganz große kleine Kunst. Ray Chen und die Bamberger Symphoniker in Wiesbaden", in: Frankfurter Neue Presse, 24.07.2021
  • "Schön, wie in diesem hochvirtuosen Konzert [von Mendelssohn] die Poesie stets im Vordergrund steht, sei es in den melodisch ausmusizierten Passagen im Kopfsatz wie im nicht zu rasch genommenen, dadurch umso mehr seinen Witz enthüllenden Finale. Auch das ausdrucksvolle Andante und die pointierten Dialoge mit dem Orchester beweisen Chens Gestaltungskraft, über alle technisch-klangliche Perfektion hinaus."
    Tagesspiegel
    Isabel Herzfeld: „Christoph Eschenbachs 80. Geburtstag. Einfach hinreißend", in: Tagesspiegel, 27.02.2020
  • "The audience seemed to collectively hold its breath as Ray Chen played Henryk Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp Minor, a virtuoso piece Chen addressed with vigor. […] After a long orchestral exposition, in which Chen occasionally played along, he made a compelling case for the concerto and for himself with a bravura opening statement. Long lyric lines, crisp rhythmic articulation, gorgeous tone and an apparently inexhaustible ability to finesse technical challenges suggested there would be thrilling listening ahead. There was. In Wieniawski’s dramatic first movement cadenza, Chen combined vivid rhetoric with impeccable technique, exactly what such solo vehicles were designed to convey. In a way, Chen also conjured the archetypal 19th century virtuoso, tossing off fleet passages and gnarly figurations as if they were mere amusements for him. Though Chen brought palpable ardor to the larghetto middle movement, and though Wieniawski lavished it with arching melodic strands, its brevity renders it little more than a short pause amid the pyrotechnics. One yearns to hear its themes more fully developed, but by the time they’re fully stated, the soloist is off and running again in the finale. Chen dispatched that last movement, with its beguiling main theme, elegantly, lingering just a bit at key moments to underscore its gypsy flavor. There were more technical feats ahead, but Chen’s animated spirit and pervasive lyricism prevented this from being merely a showpiece. He found substance where other violinists offer only flash."
    Chicago Tribune
    Howard Reich: „CSO review: A dynamic debut from violinist Ray Chen", in: Chicago Tribune, 06. Dezember 2019
  • "Und der mit so butterweichem, makellos sauberem und wunderschönem Ton spielende australisch-taiwanesische Geiger zeigte sich mehr als den Herausforderungen dieser Musik gewachsen. So melodisch rein und fein, wie er die Linien dieser Musik in Klang umsetzt und wie gekonnt er den Ton seiner Stradivari […] aufblühen lassen kann, ist allein schon herausragend. Aber dieser Schönklang geht nicht auf die Kosten von Farbenreichtum, von innerer Durchdringung des musikalischen Sinns. So hell und auch mal humorig er die Leichtigkeit mancher Passage herausarbeitet, so viel Charakter hat sein Spiel auch im dunkleren ernsten Register."
    Westdeutsche Zeitung
    Christian Oscar Gazsi Laki: „Blühender Stradivari-Klang mit Beethoven“, in: Westdeutsche Zeitung, 08. Juli 2019
  • "In Beethovens Violinkonzert muss der Solist eine Marathonstrecke zurücklegen und Spannung bis zum finalen „Rondo Allegro“ halten. Kein Problem für den sympathischen Ray Chen, der bereits mit vier Jahren das Geigenspiel anfing […]. Schlanke, sehnige Intonation, in den Spitzenlagen glänzen die Töne. […] Beethovens liedhaftes Hauptthema beleuchtet Chen von allen Seiten, entfacht beinah romantische Melancholie mit viel Schmelz (ohne jeden Schmalz!). Bei aller Eleganz und Kultiviertheit bohrt er sich aber ebenso in die tiefen Schichten des Werks hinein und betont die Empfindsamkeit."
    Neue Rhein Zeitung
    Michael-Georg Müller: „Jubel für den lockeren Geigenstar Ray Chen“, in: Neue Rhein Zeitung, 08. Juli 2019
  • "Beethoven, der Melodiker – diese von Strawinsky bewunderte Eigenschaft des Wiener Meisters stand wie eine Kapitelüberschrift vor der Interpretation des Geigers Ray Chen. Der spürte den poetischen Qualitäten des Werks hingebungsvoll nach, ohne es an Formbewusstsein mangeln zu lassen. […] Insgesamt erwies sich der taiwanesisch-australische Geiger als enorme Begabung, ach was: als Könner – und er ist derzeit ein wahrlich würdiger Dauermieter jener Stradivari, auf der Joseph Joachim die Uraufführung eines anderen Violinkonzerts in D-Dur gespielt hatte, nämlich dem von Johannes Brahms. […] Gern würden wir Chen in Düsseldorf erneut erleben, vielleicht mit einem weiteren Violinkonzert in D, nämlich dem von Strawinsky."
    Rheinische Post
    Wolfram Goertz: „Eine Stradivari für den Geigerhimmel“, in: Rheinische Post, 08. Juli 2019
  • "Ray Chen is something of a rare find in the classical music industry. Down to earth, yet pristine, he exudes a sophisticated star quality but is also kind, approachable and fun."
    International Arts Manager Magazine
    "Stay Connected“, in: International Arts Manager Magazine, Januar 2019
  • "Opening with a beautiful, soulful vibrato, he caressed the melody. This was a slightly slow, daringly exploratory account of the first movement, but all the better for it as it allowed us to savour each note."
    Bachtrack
    Andrew Larkin: "Memorable and exhilarating Tchaikovsky“, in: Bachtrack, 25. November 2018



Lothar Schacke

Lothar Schacke

Director, General Management
e-mail
+49 89 44488790
Magda Dybiec

Magda Dybiec

e-mail
Associate Artist Manager
+49 89 444887912
Anja Rauschardt

Anja Rauschardt

e-mail
Head of PR
+49 89 44488793

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