Presenting Sponsor
Great Performers Series
Violin Recital with Ray Chen
November 3, 2019
Overview
San Francisco favorite Ray Chen returns in a hearty recital program that opens with Grieg’s Norwegian folk tune-infused Violin Sonata No. 2 (composed in the euphoria of the composer’s honeymoon) and Saint-Saëns’ soaring and heroic Violin Sonata No. 1. Chen’s virtuosity is on full display in J.S. Bach’s Chaconne from Partita No. 2 in D minor, arguably one of the most challenging solo works in the repertoire; an arrangement of Debussy’s magical Clair de lune; and Ravel’s gypsy-inflected Tzigane.
Concert Extras
Post-concert CD signings with Ray Chen
Program
Edvard
Grieg
Debussy (arr. Roelens)
Clair de lune
Maurice
Ravel
Tzigane
Camille
Saint-Saëns
Violin Sonata No. 1 in D minor
Sponsors
Ray Chen
Violin
Ray Chen first came to attention with first prizes at the 2008 Yehudi Menuhin Competition and 2009 Queen Elisabeth Competition, and since then has built a profile in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Signed in 2017 to Decca Classics, his forthcoming recording with the London Philharmonic follows three critically acclaimed albums on Sony, the first of which, Virtuoso, received an Echo Klassik Award.
Mr. Chen’s profile continues to grow: he was featured on Forbes’s list of 30 most influential Asians under 30, made a guest appearance on Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle, and performed for live television audiences on France’s Bastille Day and at the Nobel Prize Concert in Stockholm.
Mr. Chen made his San Francisco Symphony debut in January 2011, became a Shenson Young Artist in 2018, and has performed with the London Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Pittsburgh Symphony, among others, and will make upcoming debuts with the Berlin Radio Symphony and Bavarian Radio Chamber Orchestra. His commitment to music education is paramount, inspiring the younger generation of music students with his series of self-produced videos combining comedy and music, and drawing new audiences to the concert hall.
Born in Taiwan and raised in Australia, Mr. Chen was accepted to the Curtis Institute of Music at age 15, where he studied with Aaron Rosand and was supported by Young Concert Artists.
He plays the 1715 “Joachim” Stradivarius violin on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation, an instrument once owned by the famed Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim.
Mr. Chen’s profile continues to grow: he was featured on Forbes’s list of 30 most influential Asians under 30, made a guest appearance on Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle, and performed for live television audiences on France’s Bastille Day and at the Nobel Prize Concert in Stockholm.
Mr. Chen made his San Francisco Symphony debut in January 2011, became a Shenson Young Artist in 2018, and has performed with the London Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Pittsburgh Symphony, among others, and will make upcoming debuts with the Berlin Radio Symphony and Bavarian Radio Chamber Orchestra. His commitment to music education is paramount, inspiring the younger generation of music students with his series of self-produced videos combining comedy and music, and drawing new audiences to the concert hall.
Born in Taiwan and raised in Australia, Mr. Chen was accepted to the Curtis Institute of Music at age 15, where he studied with Aaron Rosand and was supported by Young Concert Artists.
He plays the 1715 “Joachim” Stradivarius violin on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation, an instrument once owned by the famed Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim.
Julio Elizalde
![]()
Piano
Pianist Julio Elizalde was born in the San Francisco Bay Area and received a bachelor’s degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Paul Hersh. He holds master’s and doctoral degrees from the Juilliard School in New York City, where he studied with Jerome Lowenthal, Joseph Kalichstein, and Robert McDonald.
Since 2014, Mr. Elizalde has served as Artistic Director of the Olympic Music Festival in Washington. He is also a founding member of the New Trio with Montreal Symphony Co-Concertmaster Andrew Wan and New York Philharmonic cellist Patrick Jee. The New Trio won first prize at the Fischoff and Coleman national chamber music competitions and was awarded Harvard Musical Association’s Arthur W. Foote Prize. As part of the New Trio, Mr. Elizalde has performed for American political figures such as former President Bill Clinton, former Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and Henry Kissinger, and Senator Ted Kennedy.
Mr. Elizalde has toured internationally with violinists Sarah Chang and Ray Chen, and he has performed alongside conductors Itzhak Perlman, Teddy Abrams, and Anne Manson. He has collaborated with artists such as violinist Pamela Frank; composers Osvaldo Golijov and Stephen Hough; baritone William Sharp; and members of the Juilliard, Cleveland, Takács, Kronos, and Brentano string quartets.
In 2012, Mr. Elizalde was the youngest juror ever selected at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition held at the University of Notre Dame. In 2013, he served as a visiting professor of piano at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA. He has given piano and chamber music masterclasses throughout the US at major conservatories and universities, and he has also appeared at various summer music festivals including Yellow Barn, Taos, Caramoor, Bowdoin, Kneisel Hall, and the Music Academy of the West. This performance marks his debut under San Francisco Symphony auspices.
(November 2019)
©2025 San Francisco Symphony | Privacy Statement & Terms and Conditions
