Lauded as “a thoughtful, lyrical and accomplished artist” (The New York Times), the Taiwanese-American pianist Weiyin Chen stands out for her dazzling technique, above all for the sheer musicality and maturity of her playing. Her gift for getting to the musical “heart” of the scores she plays has drawn the attention and praise of such master musicians as the renowned conductor-pianist Leon Fleisher and pianists Richard Goode and Claude Frank, all of whom she studied with extensively, among a legion of other eminent figures. Ms. Chen is a “thinking pianist” who has a rare ability to look beyond the notes on the page to divine a score’s musical essence. 

A multi-faceted artist, Ms. Chen is celebrated for her ventures in the world of fashion and humanitarianism. She has received acclaim for her couture design in Vogue Taiwan; her creativity lends a unique extra musical aspect to her performances.

Upcoming highlight appearances in the 2023/24 season include Ms. Chen’s London Fashion Week Concert x Couture debut and her debut with Boise Phil performing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concert No. 1 in B-flat minor in their season opening concert.

An internationally renowned concert artist, Weiyin Chen’s recent season includes engagements in Europe with Musicians of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and a debut in Palermo Sicily; in USA with the Boise Phil, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra; and in Asia with the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra. Notable past highlights include debuts with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra under the direction of maestro Eliahu Inbal and I Solisti di Milano Classica in Milan, including an all Schubert recording for the Amadeus Magazine in Italy; a performance at Carnegie Hall in New York; and a concerto engagement at the New Year Music Festival in Gstaad Switzerland, under the artistic direction of Princess Caroline Murat and the patronage of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco.

Ms. Chen has performed as soloist with most of the major orchestras in Asia, including the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, with whom she made her debut under Maestro Edo de Waart; National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Leon Fleisher, performing Brahms’ First Piano Concerto; Bangkok Symphony Orchestra in a Royal Celebration Concert honoring the 86th Birthday of His Majesty the King of Thailand; China National Symphony Orchestra; and Taiwan Philharmonic (NSO). Additionally, she has performed with the Orquesta Sinfonica Ciudad de Gijon in Spain and the Adrian Symphony Orchestra and Kalamazoo Philharmonia in the USA, and completed a concert tour with the Camerata RCO – comprised of members of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in the Netherlands.

Recitals have taken her to France, Netherlands, Italy, Denmark, Peru, Panama, India, Taipei, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Utah, and Chicago.

Ms. Chen has performed in such festivals as La Jolla Summerfest, Verbier Festival & Academy, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Festival Paesaggi Musicali Toscani, Shanghai International Music Festival, Chelsea Music Festival, Sarasota Music Festival, and the Banff Center, collaborating with such instrumentalists as the Mirò Quartet; violinists Cho-Liang Lin, Ilya Gringolts, Chee-Yun Kim, David Chan, and Alina Pogostkina; violists Paul Neubauer, David Aaron Carpenter, and Cynthia Phelps; and cellists Gary Hoffman and Henrik Dam Thomsen.

Ms. Chen released two albums in the USA and Europe respectively. Her debut solo CD Diary in G, which includes Schubert’s Sonata No. 18 in G Major and Schumann’s Piano Sonata No. 2 in G minor, is a testament to her superb talents as an interpreter. The longtime critic Jerry Dubins wrote in his glowing review, “I can honestly say that no other performance and recording of this Sonata I’ve heard has won me over as this one has….” Her other recording with the Camerata RCO features Mozart’s Piano Concerto in A Major, K. 414 and Mendelssohn’s Concerto in D minor for Piano, Violin and Strings. Critic James Forrest praised her playing in the disc review “…the amount of insight she brings to this music, so early in her career, speaks volumes for the inherent gifts with which she has endowed…Chen’s youth can entirely equal the playing of Argerich recorded with an additional quarter-century of years and experience behind her. Gutman Records has a winner here.”

Born into a medical family, Ms. Chen advocates charity work combining the healing power of music and medicine. She has led global humanitarian campaigns, most recently in India and Peru with her father, Dr. Hung-Chi Chen, a world-renowned surgeon. In India, she taught and performed under the auspices of the Mehli Mehta Foundation in Mumbai, where the ticket sales of the concert was donated to the surgical mission conducted by Dr. Chen. He and his team has since performed more than 100 surgeries free of cost to the underprivileged and children in need who would not otherwise have access to such treatment. In Peru, her charity concert at the Gran Teatro Nacional marked their first campaign in Lima, benefiting the Hospital Nacional Arzobispo Loayza. The collaboration of their joined forces continue to create beautiful stories worldwide.

Ms. Chen’s musical education has included The Juilliard School and studies with Leon Fleisher at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, and private study with Richard Goode and Claude Frank. She holds a certificate degree in fashion design from Parsons School of Design, and she is a couture designer for her concert attire. Weiyin resides in New York City.

September 2022
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