Biography
Pianist Yunjie Chen stands out as a leading instructor in China while earning distinction for his command of Alexander Scriabin’s output. He presented the composer’s complete set of ten numbered sonatas in one unbroken program, the first artist worldwide to achieve that feat. Chen also holds the record as the youngest appointee to the faculty of Beijing’s Central Conservatory of Music. Through a newly established French-Chinese cultural exchange program he issued a recording of the full sonata cycle in 2024.
Born in 1980 in Jiaxing, within Zhejiang province, Chen displayed prodigious talent early by capturing a national Chinese contest at twelve. He pursued undergraduate studies at the Shanghai Conservatory under You Dachun, Shao Dan, and Wu Ying. Advanced work followed in the United States at the Manhattan School of Music with Phillip Kawin, the Juilliard School with Yoheved Kaplinsky and Matti Raekallio, and the Cleveland Institute of Music with Antonio Pompa-Baldi, from which he received degrees in turn. Additional guidance came from Fu T’song at the Lake Como Foundation in Italy. During his American period Chen secured prizes at several international events, among them the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition in Salt Lake City, the Marguerite Long–Jacques Thibaud Competition in France, and the Isangyun Competition in Tongyeong, South Korea. He also appeared at the Van Cliburn Competition in Texas; selections from those performances were later included on a 2011 anthology issued by the competition.
Chen’s solo engagements have spanned multiple continents, featuring appearances with the Sydney TV and Radio Symphony in Australia, the Santander Philharmonic in Spain, and ensembles across China, South Korea, and the United States. After completing his Western training he returned to China and joined the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing as its youngest faculty member ever. Pupils under his direction have since earned prizes at contests both domestically and overseas. In 2015 he gave the ten Scriabin sonatas at Beijing’s Forbidden City Concert Hall—the first pianist of any nationality to present them in a single sitting—generating widespread attention throughout China. Working with the cultural exchange organization Académie France-Chine, he has continued to perform and document Scriabin’s music, recording the sonatas in 2025 for France’s Accentus label.
Born in 1980 in Jiaxing, within Zhejiang province, Chen displayed prodigious talent early by capturing a national Chinese contest at twelve. He pursued undergraduate studies at the Shanghai Conservatory under You Dachun, Shao Dan, and Wu Ying. Advanced work followed in the United States at the Manhattan School of Music with Phillip Kawin, the Juilliard School with Yoheved Kaplinsky and Matti Raekallio, and the Cleveland Institute of Music with Antonio Pompa-Baldi, from which he received degrees in turn. Additional guidance came from Fu T’song at the Lake Como Foundation in Italy. During his American period Chen secured prizes at several international events, among them the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition in Salt Lake City, the Marguerite Long–Jacques Thibaud Competition in France, and the Isangyun Competition in Tongyeong, South Korea. He also appeared at the Van Cliburn Competition in Texas; selections from those performances were later included on a 2011 anthology issued by the competition.
Chen’s solo engagements have spanned multiple continents, featuring appearances with the Sydney TV and Radio Symphony in Australia, the Santander Philharmonic in Spain, and ensembles across China, South Korea, and the United States. After completing his Western training he returned to China and joined the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing as its youngest faculty member ever. Pupils under his direction have since earned prizes at contests both domestically and overseas. In 2015 he gave the ten Scriabin sonatas at Beijing’s Forbidden City Concert Hall—the first pianist of any nationality to present them in a single sitting—generating widespread attention throughout China. Working with the cultural exchange organization Académie France-Chine, he has continued to perform and document Scriabin’s music, recording the sonatas in 2025 for France’s Accentus label.
Albums
