He is a violist born in Taiwan who started his studies in Taipei and won the top prize at the Taiwan National Instrumental Competition 3 times.
After moving to the United States he studied at the Curtis Institute of Music from the time he was 14 years old and served as Principal Viola of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra.
He became a member of The Philadelphia Orchestra in 2001 under Wolfgang Sawallisch as the first Taiwanese musician to join it. Under the musical director, Christoph Eisenbach, he held the position of Associate Principal Viola in the 2006-07 season.
As a chamber musician he is a co-founder of the Daedelus Quartet who won the Seventh Banff International String Quartet Competition and was awarded the Piece de Concert prize for Best Performance of a Beethoven Quartet. He is also a founding member of the Clarosa Piano Quartet. He has participated in many music festivals throughout the United States and performed in the 50th Anniversary concerts of Marlboro Music and in the “Musicians from Marlboro” tours.
He has been a guest musician as Principal Viola with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Japan’s Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra.
In the recording studio he recorded Chiayu’s Twelve Signs for solo viola which was praised in the 2015 issue of Gramophone magazine’s Awards. Other albums he performs on include Catching Light: Chamber Music by Jan Krzywicki, Peter Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 “Pathetique”/Dumka by The Philadelphia Orchestra and Winter Morning Walks by Dawn Upshaw, Maria Schneider Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.
In the field of musical education he has served on the faculties of Temple University’s Esther Boyer College of Music and the Philadelphia International Music Festival.
He is married to the Artistic Director and pianist Natalie Zhu and has a daughter.
Sources:
- https://www.philorch.org/your-philorch/meet-your-orchestra/musicians/che-hung-chen/
- http://www.pomusicians.org/che-hung-chen.html
- https://www.pcmsconcerts.org/artist/che-hung-chen-viola/
- https://philadelphiamusicfestival.org/our-faculty/strings/che-hung-chen/
- https://www.naxos.com/person/Che_Hung_Chen/233150.htm
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/3209696-Che-Hung-Chen
- https://www.allmusic.com/artist/che-hung-chen-mn0003388938