Hailed by the New York Times as a pianist with “a graceful touch … rhythmic precision … hypnotic charm,” (2012) and “sure, subtle touch,” (2014) Han Chen is a prize winner at many major competitions for both traditional and avant-garde music.
In January 2016, as part of his prize package as the First Prize winner of the 6th China International Piano Competition (Xiamen) Chen released his debut CD with Naxos Records recording Liszt’s operatic transcriptions. International Piano magazine (UK) praised Chen’s performance in the competition, stating that he “displayed extraordinary strength, talent, and flair.”
As an enthusiastic advocate for modern music, Chen actively performs both 20th century classics and works by emerging composers. His close collaboration with the Juilliard modern music ensemble AXIOM led him to the performances of works by Pierre Boulez, Toshio Hosokawa, György Kurtág, Magnus Lindberg, Steve Reich, and Charles Wuorinen. He is currently on the roster of the New York-based Ensemble Échappé.
A native of Taichung (Taiwan), Chen received his accelerated Bachelor and Master of Music degrees at The Juilliard School (New York) with Professor Yoheved Kaplinsky under the C/Kaplan Piano Scholarship, Susan W. Rose Piano Fellowship and the Van Cliburn Alumni Scholarship. After this achievement, he obtained his Graduate Diploma with Professor Wha Kyung Byun at the New England Conservatory (Boston). He commences his Doctorate of Musical Arts at the CUNY Graduate Center (New York) in August 2018.
