Stella Chen

Stella Chen, born in 1992 in the US, was the first prize winner of the 2019 Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition. She has been praised by the Wall Street Journal as a “rising star to watch” and Strad magazine for her “warm sound and long musical lines”. 

Stella has appeared across North America, Europe, and Asia in concerto, recital, and chamber music performances. She recently made debuts with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Baltimore Symphony, Belgian National Orchestra, and many others and appeared at the Vienna Musikverein and Berlin Philharmonie. In recital, recent appearances include Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Phillips Collection, Rockport Music Festival, and Nume Festival in Italy. She appears frequently with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center both in New York and on tour. 

Stella has appeared as a chamber musician in festivals including the Ravinia, Seattle Chamber Music, Perlman Music Program, Music@Menlo, Bridgehampton, Rockport, Kronberg Academy, and Sarasota. Chamber music partners include Itzhak Perlman, James Ehnes, and Matthew Lipman.

Stella Chen is also first recipient of the Robert Levin Award from Harvard University, the top prize winner of the Tibor Varga International Violin Competition and youngest ever prize winner of the Menuhin Competition. She is recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award 2020.

Through the Harvard/New England Conservatory Dual Degree Program, Stella Chen received a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Harvard (2015, with honors) and a Master of Music from New England Conservatory (2016). Currently, Stella Chen is a C.V. Starr doctoral fellow at the Juilliard School, where she studies with Li Lin, Donald Weilerstein, and Catherine Cho. Former teachers include Itzhak Perlman and Miriam Fried. She plays the ‘Huggins’ 1708 Stradivarius violin, generously on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation. In her spare time, Stella Chen enjoys figure skating and eating sushi.

From 2019 to 2023, Stella has studied at Kronberg Academy with Mihaela Martin. These studies were funded by the Krenz/Koffka patronage. Additionally, Stella was supported by a scholarship from the arteMusica-Stiftung.