VIOLIN RECITAL
RAY CHEN
Overview
Settle in as the world’s most electrifying artists and ensembles converge at Davies Symphony Hall.
Violinist Ray Chen has it all: charisma for days, a deep musical sense, and incredible virtuosity. A recital with pianist Julio Elizalde puts his talents on full display.
Presenting Sponsor of The Great Performers Series
This concert is sponsored by the Estate of Mary Jane Harris.
PROGRAM
Violin
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.
Piano
Pianist Julio Elizalde enjoys a multifaceted career as a soloist, collaborator, curator, and educator. He has performed at Walt Disney Concert Hallin Los Angeles, Alice Tully Hall in New York, Seoul Arts Center, National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, National Concert Hall in Taipei, and the Esplanade Concert Hall in Singapore. For nearly a decade, he has been a recital partner to violinists Ray Chen and Sarah Chang. He has also collaborated with Pablo Ferrández, Kian Soltani, Pamela Frank, Robert McDonald, and members of the Juilliard, Cleveland, Takács, Kronos, Brentano, St. Lawrence, and Dover string quartets. As a founding member of the N-E-W Trio, he won the grand prize at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and received the Harvard Musical Association’s Arthur W. Foote Prize.
Originally from the Bay Area, Mr. Elizalde is a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he earned a bachelor’s degree with honors as a student of Paul Hersh. He holds master of music and doctor of musical arts degrees from the Juilliard School. Since 2014, he has served as the artistic director of the Olympic Music Festival outside Seattle, and is associate chair of strings and piano chamber music at SFCM. He made his San Francisco Symphony Great Performers Series debut with Ray Chen in November 2019.
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