Hung-Kuan Chen is one of the great personalities of the music world: enigmatic, brilliant and versatile. He is a pianist of uncompromising individuality and a remarkably inspiring pedagogue. Born in Taipei and raised in Germany, Mr. Chen’s early studies fostered strong roots in Germanic Classicism which he tempered with the sensibility of Chinese philosophy: The result is a dynamic and imaginative artistry. Furthermore, he is regarded as an extraordinary interpreter of Beethoven’s music. One of the most decorated pianists of his generation, Mr. Chen won the Gold Medal in the Arthur Rubinstein competition, and was awarded a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1991. He also won top prizes in the the Busoni and the Geza Anda International Piano Competitions, along with prizes in the Queen Elisabeth, Montreal, Van Cliburn, and Chopin International Competitions, and toured under the auspices of Young Concert Artists. Mr. Chen has appeared in the music capitals of Asia, Europe and the Americas and collaborated with many major orchestras including Houston, Baltimore, Israel, Montréal, Pittsburgh, the Tonhalle, San Francisco and Shanghai. Mr. Chen has performed with highly esteemed conductors: Hans Graf, Christoph Eschenbach, George Cleve, Josef Silverstein, Andrew Parrett and Sui Lan; and colleagues including Yo-Yo Ma, Cho-Liang Lin, Roman Totenberg, Denes Zsigmondy, Bion Tsang, Anthony Gigliotti, David Shifrin, and Laurence Lesser and pianists Tema Blackstone and Pi-hsien Chen. Mr. Chen is currently Chair of the Piano Department of the Shanghai Conservatory and is the Director of the International Piano Academy in Shanghai. Recently he has been travelling extensively as a screening juror for the Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.	ARTIST'S WEBSITE RETURN TO MAIN PAGE