Kristy Chen

Kristy Chen, violin (Princeton, NJ), began studying the violin at the age of six and is currently pursuing her B.M. under the tutelage of Soovin Kim at the New England Conservatory. Previously, she studied under Hirono Oka of The Philadelphia Orchestra, and has spent several summers under the instruction of Shmuel Ashkenasi, Vadim Gluzman and Ilya Kaler, among others. Kristy made her solo debut with the Ocean City Pops Orchestra at the age of eleven and has since made solo appearances with orchestras across the tri-state area. In 2018-2020, Kristy won a National YoungArts Foundation award. She was also named a recipient of the Starling scholarship through Temple University’s preparatory division, where she served as concertmaster of the Youth Chamber Orchestra. She has merited scholarships at festivals across the world including the Heifetz Institute, the National Youth Orchestra of the USA, the Keshet Eilon International MasterCourse (Israel), and the Taipei Music Festival & Academy where she collaborated with LA Philharmonic concertmaster, Martin Chalifour. Kristy has also participated in masterclasses with Philippe Graffin, Nadja Salerno Sonnenberg, Stefan Jackiw, Robin Wilson, and Qian Zhou, as well as with the Takacs, Borromeo, Johannes, and Verano quartets.