New Faculty Artist in 2025
SMF Alum 1996
American violinist Stella Chen garnered worldwide attention with her first-prize win at the 2019 Queen Elizabeth International Violin Competition, followed by the 2020 Avery Fisher Career Grant and 2020 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award.
For her all-Schubert debut album, released in March of 2023 to critical acclaim on the Apple Music label Platoon, Stella was named the 2023 Young Artist of the Year at the Gramophone Awards.
Since then, Stella has appeared across North America, Europe, and Asia in concerto, recital, and chamber music performances. She recently made debuts with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Baltimore Symphony, Belgian National Orchestra, and many others and appeared at the Vienna Musikverein and Berlin Philharmonie. In recital, recent appearances include Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Phillips Collection, Rockport Music Festival, and Nume Festival in Italy. She appears frequently with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center both in New York and on tour.
Among the highlights of her busy 2023/24 season are debuts with orchestras in Japan, China, North America, and Europe, including first performances at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and Tokyo’s Suntory Hall; the US premiere of Jörg Widmann’s Second Violin Concerto under the direction of the composer and the world premiere of a new violin concerto written for her by American composer Jon Cziner; her debut at the Heidelberg Festival with Igor Levit; and a recital for the San Francisco Symphony’s Spotlight Series.
Stella has appeared as a chamber musician in festivals including the Kronberg Academy, Moritzburg, Ravinia, Seattle Chamber Music, Perlman Music Program, Music@Menlo, Bridgehampton, Rockport, and Sarasota. Chamber music partners include Itzhak Perlman, James Ehnes, Matthew Lipman, Jan Vogler, and many others.
She is the inaugural recipient of the Robert Levin Award from Harvard University, where she was inspired by Robert Levin himself. Teachers and mentors have included Donald Weilerstein, Itzhak Perlman, Miriam Fried, and Catherine Cho. She received her doctorate from the Juilliard School where she serves as teaching assistant to her longtime mentor Li Lin.
Stella plays the General Kyd 1720 Stradivarius, on generous loan from Dr. Ryuji Ueno and Rare Violins In Consortium, Artists and Benefactors Collaborative.