HAN CHEN
Taiwan| Age 25

Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
Semifinal Round Recital – Sunday, June 4, 2017 – 2:30 p.m.
Bass Performance Hall

Program:

BACH-BUSONI Chaconne in D Minor, BWV 1004
SCRIABIN Fantasie in B Minor, op. 28
JANÁČEK Piano Sonata 1 .X. 1905 (“From the Street”)
SCHUBERT Fantasie in C Major, D. 760, op. 15 (“Der Wanderer”)

Han Chen, a native of Taichung, Taiwan, studied with Yoheved Kaplinsky at The Juilliard School, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, in part on a Van Cliburn Alumni Scholarship. He continues his studies at the New England Conservatory with Wha Kyung Byun. As first-prize winner of the Sixth China International Piano Competition, Mr. Chen released his debut CD, of Liszt opera transcriptions, on Naxos Records. He has performed with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (under Vladimir Ashkenazy), Aspen Music Festival Brass Ensemble, China Symphony Orchestra, Macao Orchestra, Juilliard Orchestra, Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra, and National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, and given recitals in New York, Taiwan, and China. A modern-music enthusiast, Mr. Chen collaborated closely with Juilliard’s new-music ensemble, AXIOM (as in John Cage’s Concerto for Prepared Piano), and is on the roster of the New York-based Ensemble Échappé. His program of all New York-based composers at the new-music venue Spectrum was aTime Out New York critic’s pick. Mr. Chen also is an avid composer whose works have been performed in Taiwan, New York, Aspen, and beyond.