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One of the most respected young artists of his generation, Bobby
Chen, born in Sandakan, Malaysia, burst on the scene in 1996 with a
sensational season of concerts, which included a British tour with
Lord Menuhin in a performance of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto and
a recital at the Royal Festival Hall as part of the South Bank
Prokofiev Festival.
Since then, regular appearances in mainstream London and British
venues such as Bridgewater Hall, the Royal Festival Hall, Purcell
Room and the Wigmore Hall as well as venues in China, Malaysia,
Singapore and Europe have contributed to Chen’s remarkably fast
rise as a household name in Britain and the Far East.
Ruth Nye, who nurtured his precocious talent in 1991 at the Yehudi Menuhin School,
brought him to the Royal Academy of Music where Chen also worked with Hamish Milne.
During his four-year spell there, Chen won no fewer than eight coveted awards, noticeably
that for ‘Best Final Recital’. He was also awarded numerous scholarships including the
prestigious ‘Yamaha European Foundation Scholarship’ and ‘Royal Overseas League Prize’,
which enabled him to learn with artists such as Dmitri Bashkirov, Fanny Waterman, John
Lill, Charles Rosen, Nikolai Demidenko and Krystian Zimerman.
His highly successful concerto début in 1998 with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra
playing Rachmaninov's Paganini Variations led to collaboration with conductors
Maximiliano Valdes, Lan Shui, Sir Neville Marriner, Lord Menuhin, Pierre-Andre Valade and
several orchestras including the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Warsaw Sinfonia and
the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.
He has since travelled to Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, China, Japan, the USA
and most of Europe. In Kuala Lumpur, his performance at the Petronas Towers of
Beethoven’s first Piano Concerto with Sir Marriner was particularly well received.
Chen’s commercial recordings include the acclaimed ‘Live at the Wigmore Hall’ recording
for the Jaques Samuel label with which he previously recorded a solo CD of works by
Haydn, Liszt, Schubert and Stravinsky. Chen also recorded for the ‘Cello Classics’ label
with cellist Leonid Gorokhov and broadcasted on Classic FM.
Recent highlights include Bobby Chen’s return to Malaysia for performances of
Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the Malaysian Philharmonic
Orchestra under Matthias Bamert, solo recitals in central London, appearances at the
London Chamber Music Festival and in Sweden, broadcasting for the Radio Television
Hong Kong and PianoForte Chicago (USA) and concerto appearances in the USA and with
London Sinfonietta at Cadogan Hall. Forthcoming appearances include chamber music
tours in Ireland, solo recitals at Worcester Three Choirs Festival, in Malaysia and Brunei as
well as participating in the Complete Beethoven Sonatas Cycle as part of NAFA’s (Nanyang
Academy of Fine Arts) 70th Anniversary Celebration in Singapore. Bobby will also be giving
world premieres of a concerto and a solo piano work written especially for him.
As well as his busy solo career, Bobby is also a keen chamber musician. He has recently
played with violinists Lee Huei Min, Ken Aiso, soprano Matilda Paulsson and the sextet
Panoply and will tour Ireland with Elizabeth Cooney and Jane O’Hara as the Syrius Piano
Trio in the coming months.
Bobby gratefully acknowledges the support of the Queen Anne’s Gate Foundation.
For details of concerts, reviews or to be added on mailing list, please visit
my web site
Selected reviews
1) 'International Piano'
...Chen is an armour-clad player of complete technique, a thinking musician, a natural
Romantic. His Schubert positively glows; his boldly projected Haydn impresses for its
Michelangeli-like clarity of execution. Petrushka, a marvel of exacting detail and
precision attack, triumphs with the best - a powerfully coloured, authentically
Russian journey. Nothing seems too difficult, yet nor is anything merely facile. The
tension is perfectly gauged. It is so inevitably right that after a while you begin to
wonder why everyone doesn't play like this.
Pianist-watchers out for youthful urge and freshness caught on the wing will not want
to miss Liszt's Ballade or Franciscan Legends. Mega-high on the wow factor, they
scale the awesome...Hearing Chen spur his Fazioli is to experience a distinctive
cocktail of weight, balance and onward flow, the medium and its mechanics
decisively understood and controlled from within. His arsenal of gran expressione
phrases, thunderbolt octaves and basaltic chords quarried from the deep,
Arrau/Russian-descended is imperial, his ability to suggest colour and image through
touch, timing and dynamic voicing already masterly. Young bloods come no better.
Ates Orga
2) The Edge - Malaysia
Sergei Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of
Paganini with Matthias Bamert and Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra
...It's no secret though, that most of the audience was there for Bobby Chen,
performing Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Anyone who
may have been dozing during the Prokofiev was sure to have been awakened by his
captivating musical skill. His fingers seemed to dance across the keys gracefully, a
masterful performance that gave rise to speculations during the interval as to his age.
Perhaps that would explain the need for numerous encores and seemingly endless
applause, watching poor Bobby repeatedly weave a path around chairs and musicians.
Christal Yeoh
3) Straits Times - Singapore
...Chen’s touch was masterful, combining the solid, enviable technique of the
Russian school with the assured elegance of his Claudio Arrau lineage...(the
performance) demonstrated the amazing maturity he is capable of wielding...
4) Guardian - London
Tazul Izan Tajuddin’s Piano Concerto – Warna Yang Bernada with Pierre-André Valade and
London Sinfonietta at Cadogan Hall (world premiere performance)
...to mark the 50th anniversary of Malaysian independence?there was a brand new
work commissioned for the occasion - a piano concerto by the Malaysian-born Tazul
Izan Tajuddin...Warna Yang Bernada (Sound Colour) is an arch-form single
movement whose trajectory is intended to reflect the development of Malaysia over
the past half-century. With its Messiaen-like piano flourishes (vividly played by
Bobby Chen) over hazy static orchestral textures, it is attractive...
Andrew Clements
5) Liverpool Daily Post
...(audiences) were treated to what must be the best recital - piano, certainly, they'll
hear this season, with a recital by Bobby Chen...
This is a massive talent...At times, he was carefully thoughtful, at others skittishly
lightweight. (Ichiyanagi's piece, written in 2003) demonstrating Chen's ability to
master a modernist's harmonic language with little difficulty.
Glyn Mon Hughes
6) The Saginaw News - Michigan, USA
...Chen offered a sensitive performance of Rachmaninoff’s "Piano Concerto No. 2."
Chen has a solid and fluid technique. He created beautiful singing melodies and
crystal clear attention to inner voices. The second movement was the crown jewel of
the concerto. Chen’s delicate tone became one with the beautiful soft playing of the
orchestra...The audience was spellbound and absolutely silent, savoring every note
offered...There was an immediate and enthusiastic standing ovation.
Gregory H. Largent
7) Leicester Mercury - New Walk Museuem and Art Gallery
...the highlight was a dazzling account of Movements from Sravinsky's
Petrouchka...Chen truly has (formidable technique)...he gave a virtuoso performance,
cleanly articulated, illuminating and dynamic.
...he gave the European premiere of a suite of short pieces by contemporary Chinese
composer Zhang Zhao, (Zhao's) five pieces were played with obvious affection.
...a convincing account of the Haydn's Sonata in C Hob XVI:50, Chen brought out
the humour and spirit in the inventive opening Allegro and the poetry in the
surprisingly weighty Adagio.
Neil Crutchley
8) Daily Echo (Bournemouth)
Bobby Chen's pièce de résistance, Three movements from Petrushka, held a packed
house in awe as he unleashed the full range of his formidable artistry...Here Chen's
vivid virtuosity accomplished feats of brilliance with an innate sensibility to the
underlying plot. His exceptional control and stunning articulation highlighted the
composer's genius, garnering rapturous applause.
...Haydn's nimble wit and affectionate grace were infused in Chen's account of the
Sonata in E flat, Hob.XVI/49...
Mike Marsh
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