陳秋媛 Chiu-Yuan Chen

Taiwanese clarinetist Chiu-Yuan Chen has been praised by the New York Times as “zesty”, “energetic”, and “capturing the music’s spirit”after her performance at Juilliard Chamber Festival.  She has performed internationally as a soloist, chamber music artist, and as an orchestral player.  As a soloist, Dr. Chen gave her Carnegie Hall debut recital at Weill Hall in 2008, as the winner of the Artist International Presentation in New York.  She also won the first prize in the National Music Award for Solo Clarinet in Taiwan. She was awardedthe special prize of “The Best Performance of Contemporary Chinese Work" in the “Universal Chinese Concerto Competition of the 21st Century”, and as a prize winner, she got to go on tour with the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra,performing the Clarinet Concerto of the renowned contemporary Taiwanese composer, Yu-Chou Chen.

Equally versatile in orchestral and chamber music, Dr. Chen has been involved many times in the “Chamber Gems” series at the Hong Kong University, “Lunchtime Chamber Concert” series of Hong Kong Sinfonietta, and “Musica del Cuore” series at the Citibank Plaza.  She has participated with full scholarship in the Pacific Music Festival in Japan, Focus! Festival, Juilliard Chamber Festival, and Leipzig International Summer Academy.  During her studies, she performed as principal clarinet, E-flat and bass clarinet in the Juilliard Symphony Orchestra, the New Juilliard Ensemble, National Taiwan Normal University Orchestra and Wind Symphony.

Dr. Chen received her bachelor’s degree with high honors in music performance and education from National Taiwan Normal University, where she was a student of William Chen. She received her Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School, under the tutelage of Charles Neidich and Ayako Oshima Neidich, and Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the City University of New York.  She has been a member of the Hong Kong Sinfonietta since 2008, serving as second clarinet, E-flat and bass clarinet player. She is the acting principal clarinet of the Hong Kong Sinfonietta from April 2022 to September 2023. As a teacher, other than private lessons, Dr. Chen has taught in the Junior Division of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, and is currently teaching in several primary schools in Hong Kong.