Han Chen

Han Chen is a Taiwanese classical pianist.

Early life and education

Han Chen was born in 1992 in Taiwan, beginning piano lessons at the age of 4. At the age of 9, he moved to Shanghai, where he attended the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, studying under Christopher Zhong and Kuan-wen Wang. In high school, he discovered composer Thomas Adès's Traced Overhead, which inspired a love of contemporary classical music. After being accepted to the Juilliard School at the age of 18, Chen studied under Yoheved Kaplinsky and Ursula Oppens. He later studied at the New England Conservatory under Wha Kyung Byun as well as at the CUNY Graduate Center.

Career

He first gained career recognition as having won the gold medal at the China International Piano Competition in 2013, which signed him to Naxos Records. He was also a prizewinner at the 2018 Honens International Piano Competition. As a soloist, he has performed with the China [National Symphony Orchestra], National [Taiwan Symphony Orchestra], Calgary Philharmonic, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Lansing Symphony, Lexington Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and Xiamen Philharmonic, performing under conductors Vladimir Ashkenazy, Karina Canellakis, Timothy Muffitt, and Nicholas McGegan.
With National Sawdust, Han created Infinite Staircase, a project that pairs each of the 18 Ligeti Études with a commissioned work by contemporary composers.
In 2022, he made his Lincoln Center debut with the Riverside Symphony at Alice Tully Hall performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 9.
and been nominated for the 2026 Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo for a recording of Florence Price's Piano Concerto in One Movement. He is best known for his interpretations of contemporary classical music.
Chen is a Steinway artist.