The Speaker

Hung-Kuan Chen
"Back in the '80's, Apollo and Dionysus, Florestan and Eusebius, were at war
in Chen's pianistic personality. He could play with poetic insight, he could
also erupt into an almost terrifying overdrive. But now there is the repose
and the forces have been brought into complimentary harmony. ....This man
plays music with uncommon understanding and the instrument with uncommon
imagination!" Richard Dyer, Boston Globe. (January 1999)

Mr. Hung-Kuan Chen is probably the most decorated pianist in Boston. He won
the Gold Medals both in Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master
Competition in Israel and the Feruccio Busoni International Piano
Competitions in Italy. He gathered prizes in Geza Anda, the Queen Elisabeth
and the Chopin competitions and when the New York Times failed to cover
Chen's Alice Tully debut, after winning Young Concert Artists, Ruth Laredo in
another NY publication exclaimed, "rarely have I heard such eloquence and
musical understanding. Is anyone listening?"

A true recitalist, he has performed in major venues worldwide. In New York at
Carnegie and Merkin Halls, Davis Hall in San Francisco, Jordan, Symphony and
Sanders Theatres in Boston. In Europe Mr. Chen performed at the Hercules
Saal, Salla Verdi Milan. He has played in halls in Bejing, Tapei, Japan,
Warsaw, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Munich, Zurich, and in many cities in Canada. He
has performed the complete Beethoven Sonata cycle, the Chopin Preludes &
Etudes in recital and recorded under the BMG label. He has collaborated with
such conductors as Christoph Eschenbach, Andrew Parrett, George Cleve,
Becker, Yuav Talmi, Uri Segal, Silverstein, Sui Lan, and Hans Graf and Henry
Mazer, Mr. Chen has been a soloist with orchestras such as Pittsburgh,
Baltimore, Houston, Grant Park, Colorado, Montreal, Tonhalle, Jerusalem, and
the Israel Symphony.

Hung-Kuan Chen believes in making music with others and has collaborated with
Yo-Yo Ma, Jimmy Lin, Anthony Gigliotti, Lawrence Lesser, Pi-hsien Chen, Peter
Eotvos, Anthony diBonaventura. He formed a piano duo with pianist Tema
Blackstone and has worked with the Tokyo String Quartet, the Shanghai String
Quartet, and many others.

As a pedagogue, he has inspired a studio of international caliber. He taught
at Boston University since 1984, himself just 25 years old. A faculty member
of New England Conservatory and Walnut Hill since 1993, he is also very
involved with the Music Bridge program in China where he helps choose
brilliant young students to come study in Canada, where he is presently
based, as artist in residence at Mount Royal Conservatory and University of
Calgary with his partner.

Summer Music Festival