“The grand gesture, whether of gorgeously full tone or daring velocity, seems to be at the heart of Chen’s approach to romantic repertoire. The eagerness with which he launched himself into the most daunting of challenges suggests a fiery temperament, and the necessary elements of technique are there to support it.”
-Michael Dervan, Irish Times
-Michael Dervan, Irish Times
Based in Ireland since 2003, he has already performed as soloist at all the major concert venues throughout the country. Throughout the rest of Europe his performances include a concert for the late Pope John Paul II at the Vatican Auditorium, the Gewandhaus-Mendelssohn Hall, Liszt House (Weimar) and at the Mendelssohn House in Leipzig. Recent concerto performances have included the Festival at Sandpoint with conductor Gary Sheldon, in collaboration with trumpeter John Wallace in Scotland, and with the principal conductor of the English Chamber Orchestra, Ralph Gothoni. In the 2011 season, Mr. Chen toured China with cellist William Butt, and due to its great success they have been re-invited again in 2012.
Archie Chen is a graduate of Indiana University where he was a student of Edmund Battersby and Menahem Pressler receiving his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees. Among his many scholarships and awards at Indiana University were the Nina Neal Piano Scholarship and the prestigious Performer’s Certificate, the school’s highest honor. Other teachers and mentors have included Alicia De Laroccha and Leonard Hokanson.
Archie enjoys a busy teaching career. Together with his wife he is Co-Director of the Piano Academy of Ireland, a private school for Piano in Dublin. Mr. Chen is also Assistant Lecturer of Piano at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, where he is pursuing a Doctorate in Performance with John O’ Conor. In addition Archie was also Assistant Lecturer of Piano and Piano Accompanying at the Dublin Conservatory of Music and Drama.
"Archie Chen joined the Spokane String Quartet in a splendid celebration of the 200th anniversaries of the births of Robert Schumann and Frederic Chopin. Chen combines a solo virtuoso's fluency and excitement with the sophistication and intelligence of an artist who thinks deeply about the music he plays. I was highly impressed by the six solos works by Chopin -- two sets of two Impromptus , the first set followed by the Third Ballade and the second by the Scherzo in B-flat minor. Chen made clear the subtle relationships among the Impromptus and between them and the larger Ballade and Scherzo at ended the two groups.
"Chen also showed himself to the a fine chamber music partner in Schumann's famous Piano Quintet. Chen and members of the quartet made the most of Schumann's long, lyric lines and his startling changes of mood." -Travis Rivers Senior Music Correspondent of the Spokesman-Review
"Chen also showed himself to the a fine chamber music partner in Schumann's famous Piano Quintet. Chen and members of the quartet made the most of Schumann's long, lyric lines and his startling changes of mood." -Travis Rivers Senior Music Correspondent of the Spokesman-Review