The New York Times has written that violinist Wendy Y. Chen’s “playing [had] a kind of clean intoxication to it, pulling the listener along.” Born into a musical family in Shanghai, China, Chen started her violin studies at age 4 under the guidance of her father—a professor of violin at the Shanghai Conservatory—and her mother—a violinist with the Shanghai Philharmonic. Having attracted international attention as a winner at the Prague Spring International Music Competition at age 13, Chen has performed extensively throughout Asia, Europe and North America.
Prior to joining the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra in 2007, Chen was a founding first violinist of the Vega String Quartet (formerly the Harid String Quartet). Her seven seasons with the quartet featured appearances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center (Mostly Mozart), Schneider Series of New York, Museum d’Orsay of Paris and Aspen Winter Concert Series, among others. The quartet served as quartet-in-residence at the Van Cliburn Institute and served on the artist roster for Carnegie Hall’s New York City concert series. Chen’s last season with the quartet included a complete Beethoven string quartet cycle, as well as concert tours in the United States and Germany. Her chamber music awards include four of the total six prizes from the 1999 Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition in France (ex-Evian), including the Grand Prize of the International Music Critics, as well as first prize at the 1998 Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition in the United States. Chen was a top prize winner in the fourth national Violin Competition in China. Her performances, both solo and with her quartet, have been heard on NPR’s “Performance Today,” New York’s WQXR Radio and the National Radios of China, France, Germany, Spain and the Czech Republic. Chen recorded the very first recording of John Carpenter’s String Quartet on the Naxos record label.
Chen holds a master’s degree from The Juilliard School, a performance certificate from the Shanghai Conservatory and a bachelor’s degree in music from the Harid Conservatory. Her major teachers include Glenn Dicterow, XinZhi Chen and Lina Yu; she also studied with Sir. Norbert Brainin of the Amadeus String Quartet.
Chen lives in Ridgewood, New Jersey, with her husband and their two children. |
