Acclaimed by the Guardian in London and the Straits Times in Singapore, and described by International Piano Magazine as: "...an armour-clad player of complete technique, a thinking musician, a natural Romantic. Young bloods come no better", Bobby Chen, born in Sandakan, Malaysia, burst on the scene in 1996 with a sensational season of concerts, which included a British tour with Lord Menuhin in a performance of Beethoven's Triple Concerto and a recital at the Royal Festival Hall as part of the South Bank Prokofiev Festival.
Since then, he has made appearances in mainstream British venues such as Bridgewater Hall, the Royal Festival Hall, Purcell Room and the Wigmore Hall as well as venues in the US, China, Malaysia, Singapore and Europe.
Ruth Nye, who nurtured his precocious talent in 1991 at the Yehudi Menuhin School, brought him to the Royal Academy of Music where Chen also worked with Hamish Milne, winning no fewer than eight coveted awards, noticeably that for 'Best Final Recital'. He was also awarded numerous scholarships which enabled him to learn with artists such as Dmitri Bashkirov, Fanny Waterman, John Lill, Charles Rosen, Nikolai Demidenko and Krystian Zimerman.
His highly successful concerto début in 1998 with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra playing Rachmaninov's Paganini Variations led to collaboration with conductors Maximiliano Valdes, Lan Shui, Sir Neville Marriner, Lord Menuhin, Pierre-Andre Valade and several orchestras including the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Warsaw Sinfonia and the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.
He has since travelled to Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, China, Japan, the USA and most of Europe. In Kuala Lumpur, his performance at the Petronas Towers of Beethoven's first Piano Concerto with Sir Marriner was particularly well received.
Chen's commercial recordings include the acclaimed 'Live at the Wigmore Hall' recording and a solo CD of works by Haydn, Liszt, Schubert and Stravinsky, both for Jaques Samuel Recordings. Chen also recorded for the 'Cello Classics' label with cellist Leonid Gorokhov and broadcasted on Classic FM.
Highlights of recent seasons include Bobby Chen's return to Malaysia for performances of Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra under Matthias Bamert, solo recitals in central London and at Fazioli Hall in Italy, appearances at the London Chamber Music Festival and in Sweden, broadcasting for the Radio Television Hong Kong and PianoForte Chicago (USA) and solo concerto appearances in the USA and with London Sinfonietta at Cadogan Hall.
Forthcoming appearances include music tours to Ireland and Brazil with the Syrius Trio, solo recital at Worcester Three Choirs Festival, solo recital tours to Australia and Malaysia, participating in the Complete Beethoven Sonatas Cycle as part of NAFA's (Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts) 70th Anniversary Celebration in Singapore and a 3rd return as a solo artist to London's Wigmore Hall. Bobby will also be giving world premieres of a concerto and solo piano works written especially for him and look forward to three forthcoming commercial CD releases, one of them an all-Prokofiev solo piano disc for SOMM Recordings, another being a recording of Piazzolla's piano trio music for Illuminate Records.
As well as his busy solo career, Bobby is also a keen chamber musician. He will tour with the sextet Panoply and as part of the Syrius Piano Trio in the coming months. A keen exponent of contemporary music, Bobby is working with Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Tazul Tajuddin, Steven Goss and Benjamin Dwyer.
