Chen Ruei-bin Hong Kong concert set for Nov. 4

Report by Taiwan News       

 Oct 29,2014

World-renowned pianist Chen Ruei-bin, who was born in Taiwan and studied in Austria, has announced a special concert to be held in the Concert Hall at Hong Kong City Hall Tuesday, November 4. The concert is an expression of thanks to the people of Hong Kong for their support and donations on behalf of the people of Kaohsiung after that city’s tragic gas explosions. Chen will appear with the support of the Kaohsiung Capriccio Chamber Orchestra in an event sponsored by the Kaohsiung Municipal Government and Kaohsiung Bureau of Tourism.
The concert will feature many pieces known and loved in Hong Kong including the debut of “Love River,” the concerto inspired by Kaohsiung’s noted waterway, and Three Nocturnes by Rachmaninov. Chen Ruei-bin was the first pianist to perform these works in Taiwan and the US. The concert will be recorded by RTHK for a delayed broadcast. The event has drawn a great deal of interest from the media in Taiwan, with numerous write-ups in the press, and a crew from a local television station will record a preview of the evening’s music.
Chen Ruei-bin has made many appearances in Hong Kong during the course of his 20-year career, and he has performed with a number of different orchestras including the Moscow State Symphony and the Taipei Municipal Symphony Orchestra, as well as with various Western and Chinese music groups from Hong Kong and Macau. He has also collaborated with the Hong Kong Arts Festival and the Hong Kong Kang-le Bureau of Culture. He also performed with the Macau Symphony Orchestra in its debut appearance in Taiwan last month. In addition to performing in the City Hall Music Center and the Culture Center in Hong Kong, Chen Ruei-bin has delighted audiences in Hong Kong with debut performances of the Yellow River Concerto and the Love River Concerto, winning praise from Western and Chinese critics alike inHong Kong.
Chen has also taught students in several programs in Hong Kong and is currently an artist-in-residence with RTHK.

Pray for Kaohsiung -Rueibin Chen Piano Concert

演出時間 :  2014年 11月4日   8:00pm

演出地點 :  香港大會堂音樂廳

                  Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall

 Ticket Office: :

• 香港大會堂詢問處 Hong Kong City Hall Enquiries Counter   電話: 2921 -2840

   香港中環愛丁堡廣場五號 , 5 Edinburgh Place, Central, H.K.

    

An Evening of Chinese Splendor

7/5/2014 An Evening of Chinese Splendor 
 Rueibin Chen  performing the Yellow River Concerto 「黃河協奏曲」 on its 75th anniversary.

Taiwanese-Austrian concert pianist Rueibin Chen plays with the Macao Orchestra in Greater Kaohsiung and Greater Taichung

Taiwanese-Austrian concert pianist Rueibin Chen plays 
with the  Macao Orchestra in Greater Kaohsiung and Greater Taichung This Week.


Photo courtesy of the Capriccio Chamber Orchestra

Interview by Taipei Times , 

July 25, 2014

Led by acclaimed Chinese conductor Lu Jia , the Macao Orchestra has embarked on their first Taiwan tour. This week in Greater Kaohsiung and Greater Taichung, it’s Rachmaninoff  2> and Rimsky-Korsakov’s , a four-movement symphonic poem that blends eastern and western motifs to narrate .
The Rachmaninoff concerto features Taiwanese-Austrian pianist Rueibin Chen , who is back in Taiwan after debuting at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

July 28 ,Monday at 7:30pm at the Kaohsiung Cultural Center’s Chih-te Hall ; and July 29 ,Tuesday at 7:30pm at the Chung Shan Hall of Greater Taichung.

Macau Orchestra to play in Taiwan for the 1st time

Interview by China Post  

July 24, 2014

TAIPEI -- The Macau Orchestra will perform in Taiwan for the first time during a concert tour, bringing with it works by Rachmaninoff and other masters.
Led by artistic director and principal conductor Lu Jia, the orchestra will hold concerts in Kaohsiung on July 28 and in Taichung on July 29, according to the tour's Taiwan promoter, New Aspect, Environment, Culture & Creation.
The orchestra will perform Rachmaninoff's “Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18,” and Rimsky-Korsakov's “Scheherazade, Op. 35.”
Taiwanese pianist Rueibin Chen will join the orchestra in performing the Rachmaninoff piece.
The orchestra, formerly known as the Macau Chamber Orchestra, was established in 1983 and became a professional orchestra in 1995.

Pianist Rueibin Chen plays with Los Angeles Philharmonic

Interview from CNA 
【Culture】2014-07-16 

Pianist Rueibin Chen plays with Los Angeles Philharmonic Taipei, July 16 (CNA) Taiwanese pianist Rueibin Chen gave a successful performancewith the Los Angeles Philharmonic on July 5 at the Hollywood Bowl, the biggest outdoor venue in the United States.

Chen performed the Yellow River Concerto, which he also performed as a soloist at the opening ceremony of the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, marking the first performance by a Taiwanese pianist at the Bowl.

Rising to prominence in the United States in recent years, Chen was invited to perform at the newly opened Bing Concert Hall in Stanford University in February.

In March, he became the first piano soloist to perform at the inaugural season of the brand new Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, for which tickets completely sold out four months in advance.

In addition to his solo recitals and orchestral performances of classical repertoire, Chen has devoted much effort to collaboration and premiering new solo and piano concerto works.

Some of his critically-acclaimed piano concerto compositions are the Love River Concerto, which centers on his fondness for a river in Taiwan, and the Winter Trilogy, written to celebrate the Hakka heritage. Chen performed both at the Lincoln Center in New York, the Sydney Opera House, and the Hong Kong Cultural Center.

Chen has been the recipient of various distinguished awards and honors, including Taiwan's Golden Melody Awards for Best Performance and for Best Album.

First Taiwanese Pianist performs at America's biggest outdoor venue

       Rueibin Chen plays at Hollywood Bowl
 
       Interview from The China Post , July 16, 2014

Great honor to have jazz legend/icon Mr Herbie Hancock visit me backstage!

The LA Phil was magnificent in its first ever performance of the Yellow River Concerto!

Beautiful set design for the Yellow River! Thank you LA Phil!

Pianist Rueibin Chen to perform with Los Angeles Philharmonic

Pianist Rueibin Chen to perform with Los Angeles 

Philharmonic

Interview from CNA  

July 5, 2014

Taipei, July 5 (CNA) Taiwanese pianist Rueibin Chen is set to perform with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Saturday at the Hollywood Bowl, the biggest outdoor venue in the United States.

Chen will perform the Yellow River Concerto, which he also performed as a soloist at the opening ceremony of the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai.

This will mark the first performance by a Taiwanese pianist at the Hollywood Bowl.

Rising to prominence in the United States in recent years, Chen was invited to perform at the newly opened Bing Concert Hall in Stanford University in February. In March, he became the first piano soloist to perform at the inaugural season of the brand new Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, for which tickets completely sold out four months in advance.

In addition to his solo recitals and orchestral performances of classical repertoire, Chen has devoted much effort to collaboration and premiering new solo and piano concerto works.

Some of his critically-acclaimed piano concerto compositions are the Love River Concerto, which centers on his fondness for a river in Taiwan, and the Winter Trilogy, written to celebrate the Hakka heritage. Chen performed both at the Lincoln Center in New York, the Sydney Opera House, and the Hong Kong Cultural Center.

Chen has been the recipient of various distinguished awards and honors, including Taiwan's Golden Melody Awards for Best Performance and for Best Album.

Pianista taiwanés actuará con la Orquesta Filarmónica de Los Ángeles

Pianista taiwanés actuará con la Orquesta Filarmónica de Los Ángeles Interview from CNA  Cultura | 2014/07/05 Taipei, julio 5 (CNA) El connotado pianista taiwanés, Rueibin Chen, interpretará una obra china con la Orquesta Filarmónica de Los Ángeles en un concierto que tendrá lugar al aire libre el sábado 5, que se espera atraiga a una audiencia de unas 20.000 personas.  Ésta será la primera vez que un pianista nacido en Taiwán actúe en la sala de conciertos "Hollywood Bowl" de Los Ángeles, interpretando la famosa música china "Yellow River" (Río Amarillo).  Se espera que la actuación de Chen ayude a reforzar los intercambios entre las culturas oriental y occidental, pues es rara vez que una orquesta de fama internacional esté presentando una obra china en una de las principales ciudades de los Estados Unidos, dijo un ejecutivo de la compañía organizadora del concierto.  Chen, nacido en Taiwán en el año 1967, ha tenido una descollante actuación en muchos concursos internacionales de piano, incluyendo al Concurso Internacional de Piano Fryderyk Chopin, antes de los 20 años de edad, y ha estado ganando una creciente fama en los Estados Unidos con sus frecuentes actuaciones en los últimos años.

Prepping at the Hollywood Bowl. Happy 4th!

Prepping at the Hollywood Bowl. Happy 4th! 

採排中! 

星期六在好萊塢碗見！

Pianist Rueibin Chen to perform at the Hollywood Bowl July 5

Pianist Rueibin Chen to perform at the Hollywood Bowl 

July 5

Interview by Taiwan News         

July 1,2014

Internationally renowned Taiwanese pianist Rueibin Chen will perform July 5 at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The Hollywood Bowl is an outdoor amphitheater that seats close to 20,000 and Chen will be the first Taiwan born musician to perform at this venue with the worldrenowned Los Angeles Philharmonic. Chen will perform the Yellow River Piano Concerto. In addition, Chen has prepared a crossover adaptation of east and west, classical and popular music for this concert. As always, Chen’s superb talent and rich interpretations are expected to attract a full house of music lovers who enjoy his keyboard skills as well as his infectious charm.

Chen was the first piano soloist to perform in the recently completed Wallis Annenberg Center, a performing arts center in Beverly Hills that took 15 years and US$70 million to complete. Chen has noted that it is a truly great honor for him to be the first solo performer to appear there, and he is proud to open the center to the public. In addition, 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Beverly Hills, adding to the meaning of the debut performance in the Wallis Annenberg Center.

Chen was the first Chinese Pianist to perform at the Bing Concert Hall at Stanford University early last year, and in February this year he was invited back to perform a Chinese New Year Concert featuring the "Yellow River Piano Concerto." This is always a performance that audiences of all nationalities enjoy and appreciate for its festive Chinese New Year atmosphere.

Chen was also the first Chinese musician born in Taiwan to ever appear in the latest and most modern Center for the Performing Arts in Southern California scale ─ the Orange County Performing Arts Center Concert Hall, also known as the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.

Chen was the only soloist to perform at the opening ceremonies of the 2014 Beijing International Film Festival.
Chen's performances come during the 140th anniversary commemoration of Rachmaninoff, and Beverly Hills is one of the places where Rachmaninoff spent the twilight years of his outstanding career. He spent much of his life in foreign lands, and many of his works are full of melancholy. Chen, who traveled to Vienna at a young age to study the piano, has many parallels in his own life, making Rachmaninoff's works even more vivid and poignant for him. Chen says sometimes he wonders if he has some Russian blood in his ancestry. He notes that no one ever taught him how to play Rachmaninoff, he just sat down at the piano and let Rachmaninoff's works resonate through his fingertips. With Rueibin Chen, the whole Rachmaninoff experience is something that cannot be explained in words.

Chen’s performance at Beverly Hills echoed his triumphant appearance in Taiwan, with a comprehensive range of Rachmaninoff’s works including his piano transcriptions The Three Nocturnes. This is a feat that demands great skill but produces tremendous feelings of nostalgia for the listener.

Love this photo of fireworks at the Hollywood Bowl! Check 

out this link:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10152074622677385&id=51777097384

Interview by Phoenix TV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9240hXcMCc

Rueibin will be the first Taiwan-born concert pianist to perform at USA's biggest outdoor venue: the Hollywood Bowl.

Rueibin will be the first Taiwan-born concert pianist to perform at USA's biggest outdoor venue: the Hollywood Bowl. 

Hope to see you all at my performance with Los Angeles Philharmonic on July 5 at the Hollywood Bowl. Following is a link that I hope you will enjoy:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcwtmnAISOdo1Hh-1vTT2_g

The LA Phil team is amazing and did a most wonderful press event! Can't wait to perform Yellow River Concerto  at the largest and the best outdoor classical music venue in the US. See you at the Hollywood Bowl on Saturday 7/5 !!!

East meets West, Classical meets Jazz totally rocks!!!

Great fun collaborating with David Benoit at the wonderful 

Zipper Hall!

East meets West, Classical meets Jazz totally rocks!!!

5/30 at Zipper will be a fun cross over concert from Classicalmusic to Jazz

The concert on 5/30 at Zipper will be a fun cross over concert from Classicalmusic to Jazz, including world premier of David Benoit's own arrangement of Coldplay's Viva La Vida and David Brubeck's Blue Rondo A La Turk!!!

In celebration of Asia Pacific Heritage month, I will be the guest artist at a "cross over" concert with Jazz icon David Benoit. Lots of surprises!!! Look forward to going to Los Angeles and seeing you next Friday 5/30 at Zipper Hall inside the Colburn School playing 4 hands and 2 pianos!

Rueibin Chen performed at the Fourth Beijing International Film Festival ---Film Symphony Concert

Rueibin Chen performed at the Fourth Beijing International Film Festival ---Film Symphony Concert

Review: Taiwanese Pianist Rueibin Chen Hands Masterful Performance at The Wallis

 Review :  

Taiwanese Pianist Rueibin Chen Hands Masterful Performance at The Wallis

LIVING OUT LOUD Los Angeles 

By Humberto Capiro on March 29, 2014 , 

Classical music is seen by many as a white European art form and its audience made up of mostly older fans. Symphony halls and other venues offering this type of music are trying their best to see how to pull in a younger and more diverse audience.

There is one ethnic group though that not only attends these concerts in large numbers but has produced many of today’s most important classical music artists and whose presence in symphony orchestra musicians may be the highest. Asian and Asian-Americans comprise the youngest demographic group attending classical concerts and many of the hot classical performers are coming from this community.

These artists include Chinese pianists Yuja Wang, Lang Lang, cellist Yo Yo Ma (French born of Chinese parents) amongst others.

One of Taiwan’s best pianists, Rueibin Chen performed two sold-out nights at The Bram Goldsmith Theater at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills on Thursday and Friday evening.

A Chinese-Austrian born in Taiwan, Chen has a reputation for a brilliant technique and intense artistic expression as well as an expertise on the works of Russian composer, conductor and master pianist Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff, whose date of death in this city of Beverly Hills coincided with Friday’s performance.

Chen’s selected program titled “Total Rachmaninoff” began with three of Rachmaninoff Preludes, which were written for solo piano. “Prelude in G Major Opus 32 No. 5″ began with a soft, rain-like sound with multiple layers, followed by “Prelude in D Major Opus 23 No. 4,” which had a fuller and stronger sound showcasing Chen’s virtuosity. A more lyrical and melodic piece was “Prelude in D Major Opus 23 No. 4,” which was the longest of the three.

The “Three Nocturne Opus I” (1887), a premier for California, is regarded as the first serious attempt by the composer to write for the piano at all 14-years of age. These included “No.1 in F-sharp Minor,” “No. 2 in F Major” and “No. 3 in C Minor.” The pieces vary in tone and speed from a slow, soft, gentle sound to a full one with increase speed and complexity that Chen was able to transmit with great artistry and command.

“Lilacs Opus 21 No.” was a beautiful, contemplative melody with a more modern feel while the following piece, “Gavotte from Partita No. 3 in E Major,” was a baroque number by Johan Sebastian Bach; it was originally for lute and was transcribed by Rachmaninoff for piano. In “Etude-Tableau in D Major Opus 39,” Chen showcased a very animated, virtuoso technique in fast pace that increased with complexity as time went on.

After the intermission, the audience was treated to several other transcribed pieces for piano by Rachmaninoff such as “Lullaby” by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and “Minuet from L’Arlesienne” by French composer Gerge Bizet. These were followed by two intense pieces by Austrian-born violinist and composer Fritz Kreisler, a contemporary of Rachmaninoff whose “Liebesleid” (Love’s Sorrow) and “Liebesfreud” (Love’s Joy) were packed with layers of complexities and so much power that Chen’s cufflinks flew off of his wrists.

After two standing ovations, Chen finally addressed the audience in his limited English thanking them for attending the concert and The Wallis for hosting him that evening. Not to disappoint he turned to the piano and gave a haunting version of Polish composer Frédéric Chopin’s “Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 35,” popularly known as The Funeral March.

Fortunately, the evening’s selections and compositions of Vasilievich Rachmaninoff, interpreted in the power and artistry of Chen, had all in the audience “living it up.”

http://www.lol-la.com/review-taiwanese-pianist-rueibin-chen-hands-masterful-performance-at-the-wallis/

PROFILE: Rueibin Chen A look at a former prodigy’s career as an international concert pianist

 PROFILE: Rueibin Chen 

A look at a former prodigy’s career as an international concert pianist


Interview by  Taipei Times , 

Sat, Apr 05, 2014

Photo : 
Rueibin Chen is an internationally acclaimed touring concert pianist.
Photo courtesy of Capriccio

Rueibin Chen (陳瑞斌) is on a brief stop in Taiwan to see immediate family, before flying out for two sold-out recitals to open the Wallis Annenberg Center in California. He is a former prodigy with a crown-jewel job, a solo pianist who follows gigs from one continent to the next.
When I meet him, he is a bit jet-lagged. He doesn’t sound like the way he plays, which the Boston Globe hails as “white-hot energy, steel-fingered, power and athletic virtuosity.” Offstage, he is a plain-spoken Greater Tainan native with good manners and a slight stammer, who is apparently without the motivation to punch up his statements and make a dazzling impression. He ends long sentences deferentially: “I don’t know the words to express it.”

The son of a public-school music teacher, Chen took up piano at five years old and learned instinctively, making his stage debut with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra at age 10. Shortly afterward, his father wanted to give him a shot at making it in Vienna.
“My father made the decision. I was 13 and couldn’t say no, I didn’t have a choice … Once I was there, I had to finish my education, otherwise how could I find a job?” Chen says.
For the next few years, Chen studied unaccompanied at the Vienna Conservatory under a special waiver of age requirement. In between classes, the teen struggled to find rice at the supermarket and tried to learn German. He also searched for appropriate places to practice his etudes.
“When you are playing piano, you bother your neighbors,” Chen says. “I was evicted many times.”
Meanwhile, he wanted to go home.
“I was so far from Taiwan. When I was little I liked playing Rachmaninoff and Chopin, and I felt that we shared a culture,” he says.
“Rachmaninoff went from Moscow to California’s Beverly Hills, and he never went back. Even though it was so sunny and beautiful there, what he composed was depressive and deep. You could tell that this person was never very happy because he could not go back.”

LIFE AS A TOURING PIANIST
These days, with at least one major engagement per month, Chen is perpetually jet lagged and often spends nights practicing while his home time zone rests.
It’s a solitary lifestyle similar to his childhood in Vienna, with the difference that he has the means to fly to Taiwan whenever he wants. He treats his career like a nine-to-five job, dedicating regular hours and creating timely programs that match the needs of audiences.
“I want to deliver good music to people,” he says. “Taiwanese audiences have a very high expectation of me, because they are familiar with my sound. They want something different each time. I want to create something different each time.”
His latest major tour marks Rachmaninoff’s 140th anniversary. It’s a popular program, and he is among the world’s best at this repertoire — in 1984, he became the youngest winner of the Rachmaninoff International Piano Competition in Italy.
But Chen’s relationship with music has moved beyond his years as a prodigy. In some ways, music has become a much more private matter.
“For example, the older I get, the more I like Brahms,” he says.
“Some composers have a knack for sharing, and have the ability to create communion — for instance Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky, they spark chemistry with an audience. But others don’t have that quality, for instance Brahms,” he says.
“For an outdoor concert for 2,000 people, you would not hear anybody performing Brahms, because he is indirect with the emotions. Yet you can hear him when you listen by yourself behind a closed door,” Chen says.
He can now appreciate Vienna, in which the majority of people could not play classical music but were taught how to approach and engage with it. In Taiwan, many children like himself were taught to perform, but not to listen. Most eventually quit, he says.
“It’s more fortunate to have a relationship with music throughout your life,” he says.

Rueibin Chen — An Evening of Rachmaninoff – Los Angeles concert music report

Archive for Music - Arts Beat LA


Rueibin Chen — An Evening of Rachmaninoff –

Los Angeles concert music report


Wednesday, March 12th, 2014

An exciting concert to honor the legendary Russian composer Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff is set for later this month.
Internationally acclaimed pianist Rueibin Chen will perform an evening ofRachmaninoff’scompositions at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts as part of its inaugural season onThursday, March 27 andFriday, March 28 at 8pm. Honoring Rachmaninoff’s140th anniversary, Chen has been touring worldwide performing programs dedicated to the composer. He is the first pianist to perform Rachmaninoff’sthree Nocturnes in Asia and California, USA. His 2014 world tour will include in Greater China, performing concertos with orchestras as well as solo recitals.

About the performer:
Chen is the best-selling classical musician in Greater China in CD recording, having produced a dozen CD recordings with various labels, such as Universal, Naxos International, KKM Austria, and Jingo Records, recording works by Chopin, Liszt, Wagner-Liszt, Grieg, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky and Piazolla, as well as his own transcriptions. His concerts have been broadcast on many radio and television programs throughout Europe, Asia, America, and Australia.

Chen was invited to be the opening soloist in the 2010 World Expo in China, performing the Yellow River Concerto. Critics hailed it as the best performance of the iconic piece in its history. His masterful performances of Rachmaninoff’s complete piano concertos (including the PaganiniRhapsody Op. 43) in two consecutive nights at Taiwan’s National Concert Hall garnered significant critical acclaim. Throughout his career, Chen’s musicianship has been highly praised by many renowned musicians and critics.

Chen tours regularly throughout the world, performing in major concert halls, such as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, Kennedy Performing Arts Center in Washington, D.C., Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, Kodak Theater in Hollywood, Jack Singer Concert Hall in Calgary, Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Opera de Monte Carlo, Warsaw Philharmonie, Bolshoi Hall in Moscow, F. Mann Auditorium in Tel Aviv, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Symphony Hall in Osaka, Hong Kong Cultural Center, Beijing Music Hall, National Chiang Kai-Shek Cultural Center in Taipei, Shanghai Oriental Art Center, and the Sydney Opera House. He has held various artist-in-residence positions for various entities, including Hong Kong Radio Television, and he has acted as music director of various chamber festivals.

He has been selected as the soloist for many orchestral world tours, including the Taipei Symphony on its Asian tour, Kaohsiung City Traditional Orchestra of Taiwan on its America tour and its Australia tour, the Evergreen Symphony, and the Taipei Symphony on their China tours. Chen has worked with many renowned conductors, such as Sergiu Comissiona, Antoni Wit, Pavel Kogan, Joseph Silverstein, and András Ligeti.

Rueibin Chen, Piano
An Evening of Rachmaninoff
Bram Goldsmith Theater, Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd,
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Two performances ONLY:
Thursday, March 27
Friday, March 28
8PM
Prices: $49.00, $69.00, $89.00
In Person – Wallis Annenberg Box Office,
9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90210
By Phone – 310-746-4000
Purchase online here.

MORE ABOUT RUEIBIN CHIN:
A Chinese Austrian born in Taiwan, Chen won a total of eighteen medals, five of them gold, before the age of 20 in international piano competitions in Tel Aviv (Rubinstein), Warsaw (Chopin), Salt Lake City (Bachauer), Athens (Callas), Vienna, Manresa, and Italy (Rome, Rachmaninoff, Bellini, and Stresa), to name a few.

Chen received his first piano lessons from his father when he was five. At the age of thirteen, he was selected by the government in a national talent search and was sent to Vienna, Austria, where he obtained a concert diploma from the Vienna Conservatory. Subsequently, he received a soloist’s examination award from the Hannover Hochschule für Musik in Germany and then continued his study under the late legendary Russian pianist Lazar Berman as his only disciple of Asian descent.

In addition to his masterful artistry, Chen’s humble background and the hardship he endured as a youngster growing up in Europe all by himself have inspired many young pianists, both in Asia and abroad. His unique blend of East/West sensibility, his Chinese heritage, his European upbringing and training, his modest personality and his inspiring personal story have earned him a significant following all over the world.

Chen started his career as a child prodigy and concert pianist at age ten when he made his debut with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra. He was named the Principal Soloist of “Moldova” Iasi and Tirgu Mures Philharmonic Orchestra in Romania. He has appeared as a soloist with many orchestras around the world, including the Utah Symphony, Budapest Symphony, Prague Symphony, Czech State Philharmonic of Brno, Moscow State Symphony, Russian State Symphony, Singapore Symphony, New Philharmonia Japan, Shanghai Symphony, National Symphony Taiwan, Taipei Symphony, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, and London Chamber Players, among others.

Chen made his European debut to much acclaim in the Grossensaal of the Konzerthaus in Vienna in 1984. He has been invited to perform at many festivals, such as the International Salzburg Music Festival, Vienna Spring Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Hong Kong Festival, Taipei Music Festival, Taipei Arts Festival, the International Rachmaninoff Music Festival in Moscow, the Janáček Music Festival in the Czech Republic (formerly Czechoslovakia), the Chopin Festivals in Austria, Czech Republic and Poland, various festivals in Romania, and the Auckland International Piano Festival.
He has participated at many internationally and historically significant events, including his performances as the designated soloist of the 75th Anniversary Celebration of Turkey and the designated soloist for the Macau-China Reunification Celebration Ceremony.

In recent years, in addition to his solo recitals and orchestral performances of classical repertoire, Chen has devoted much effort to the collaboration and premiering of new solo and piano concerto works. Critically-acclaimed new piano concerto compositions, such as the Love River Concerto, which depicts the fondness for a famous river in Taiwan, and the Winter Trilogy, written to celebrate the Hakka heritage, were both composed through a collaboration with Chen on the piano part and premiered worldwide with performances at Lincoln Center in New York, Sydney Opera House in Australia, and the Hong Kong Cultural Center.

Chen is also an active chamber musician and has performed with international chamber groups, such as the Lark Quartet and Shanghai Quartet.
He has given master classes in musical strongholds, such as the New England Conservatory in Boston and the Masterplayer International Music Academy in Lugano. He has served as a jury member in international piano competitions in Switzerland. He has also served as artistic director of various festivals, including Taiwan government’s music festival. Kaohsiung City of Taiwan has appointed him as their music ambassador.

In commemoration of the 200th anniversary of Chopin’s birth in 2010, Chen launched a project to present a series of concerts featuring Chopin’s masterpieces, including solo and piano concerto works, in major cities throughout America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region from 2008 through 2010.

In between his demanding touring schedule, Chen has devoted much of his time to helping the underprivileged and various worthy causes. In 2012, he was the keynote celebrity performer at the American Red Cross Gala in Los Angeles and performed for the gala guests and Ms. Jane Seymour. That same year, he organized the first National Piano Competition for Disabled Youngsters in Taiwan. The winners got a dream of lifetime to perform on stage with Chen in two large concerts with over 2,000 people in the audience. Also in that year he participated in a special project called “Play Me, I’m Yours” with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and a benefit concert with the Pasadena Symphony in honor of Marvin Hamlisch.
In addition to the awards from various international piano competitions, Chen has been the recipient of various distinguished awards and honors, such as the “Bösendorfer” prize in Vienna and being chosen by Taiwan’s Minister of Culture as the “Best Young Artist.” Chen won the “Best Prize for Contributions to Music” at the Salzburg International Music Festival and the “Albert Roussel Prize” in Paris. He was invited by the president of Taiwan, Teng-Hui Lee, to his Festival Concert at the Presidential Palace, which was broadcast by national radio and television networks. Subsequently he was also honored by the two succeeding presidents. He was awarded the “Taiwan Millennium Best Artistic Performance Award” in 2000, the “Golden Melody Awards” for “Best Performance” and for “Best Album,” and the “Character of Highest Potential” in Taiwan. Chen was also honored by the county supervisor of greater Los Angeles County for promoting diplomacy between the United States and Taiwan through music with his solo recital at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

ABOUT THE WALLIS:
Located in the heart of Beverly Hills, the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts (The Wallis) has transformed a Beverly Hills city block, facing Santa Monica Boulevard, between Crescent and Canon Drives, into a vibrant new cultural destination with two distinct, elegant buildings: the historic 1933 Italianate-style Beverly Hills Post Office (now the Paula Kent Meehan Historic Building) and the new, contemporary 500-seat, state-of-the-art Bram Goldsmith Theater. Together these two structures embrace the city’s history and future, creating a new cultural landmark. Within the treasured Post Office, existing spaces are re-imagined into the 150-seat Lovelace Studio Theater, a theater school for young people, a café (both opening in 2014), and gift shop. The Wallis, the first performing arts center to be built in Beverly Hills, is now a home for artists from around the world and audiences of every age. The Wallis will produce and present outstanding theater, music, opera and dance, as well as exciting programming for the family audience.

Rueibin wants to thank you all for your support!

Rueibin wants to thank you all for your support! Both concerts at the Wallis are completely SOLD OUT! 
For those of you who are not able to get tickets, we sincerely apologize and hope to see you in LA and/or at the Wallis in the future!

Friday 3/28 Rueibin Chen will perform Chopin's famous Funeral March at encore at the Wallis

Friday 3/28 is the anniversary of Rachmaninoff's passing. As a special tribute, Rueibin Chen will perform Chopin's famous Funeral March at encore at the Wallis. Rachmaninoff also played this piece at his very last concert.

Taiwanese pianist Rueibin Chen to appear in Beverly Hills

Taiwanese pianist Rueibin Chen to appear in Beverly 

Hills

Report by Taiwan News

February 24, 2014

Internationally renowned Taiwanese pianist Rueibin Chen will perform the evenings of March 27 and 28 at the Wallis Annenberg Center in Beverly Hills. Chen will perform classic piano work from one of the true masters, Sergei Rachmaninoff. As always, Chen’s superb talent and rich interpretations are expected to attract a full house of music lovers who enjoy his keyboard skills as well as his infectious charm.
Chen will be the first piano soloist to perform in the recently completed Wallis Annenberg Center, a performing arts center in Beverly Hills that took 15 years and US$70 million to complete. Chen has noted that it is a truly great honor for him to be the first solo performer to appear there, and he is proud to open the center to the public. In addition, 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Beverly Hills, adding to the meaning of the debut performance in the Wallis Annenberg Center.

Chen was the first Chinese musician to perform at the Bing Concert Hall at Stanford University early last year, and in February this year he was invited back to perform a Chinese New Year Concert featuring the "Yellow River Piano Concerto." This is always a performance that audiences of all nationalities enjoy and appreciate for its festive Chinese New Year atmosphere.

Chen was also the first Chinese musician to ever appear in the latest and most modern Center for the Performing Arts in Southern California scale ─ the Orange County Performing Arts Center Concert Hall, also known as the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.

Chen's performances come during the 140th anniversary commemoration of Rachmaninoff, and Beverly Hills is one of the places where Rachmaninoff spent the twilight years of his outstanding career. He spent much of his life in foreign lands, and many of his works are full of melancholy. Chen, who traveled to Vienna at a young age to study the piano, has many parallels in his own life, making Rachmaninoff's works even more vivid and poignant for him. Chen says sometimes he wonders if he has some Russian blood in his ancestry. He notes that no one ever taught him how to play Rachmaninoff, he just sat down at the piano and let Rachmaninoff's works resonate through his fingertips. With Rueibin Chen, the whole Rachmaninoff experience is something that cannot be explained in words.

Chen’s performance at Beverly Hills will echo his triumphant appearance in Taiwan, with a comprehensive range of Rachmaninoff’s works including his piano transcriptions The Three Nocturnes. This is a feat that demands great skill but produces tremendous feelings of nostalgia for the listener.

Currently tickets for the first concert on March 27 are sold out, but may still be available for the Friday, March 28 performance. Please visitwww.thewallis.org or call 310-746-4000. The center is located at 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd. in Beverly Hills.

Photo # 1 
Taiwanese pianist Rueibin Chen performs at Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, Orange County.

Photo # 2
Taiwanese pianist Rueibin Chen performs at the Bing Concert Hall at Stanford University.