In September 2025 Junyan Chen made her Philharmonia Orchestra debut at London’s Bold Tendencies, performing Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 4 under Charlotte Corderoy. The appearance followed her success at the 2024 Leeds International Piano Competition, where she won Second Prize, the Chamber Music Prize, and the Award for a Work by a Woman Composer after playing the same concerto with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Domingo Hindoyan in the final.
Her current season maps a broad profile: solo recitals in Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Hannover and Fribourg, a return to Wigmore Hall, and a date at the Klavier-Festival Ruhr. As Artistic Director of the Leeds International Chamber Series 2025/26, Chen balances curation and performance, appearing in duo with Alim Beisembayev and as pianist of Ensemble Jackalope, a quartet taking part in the Britten Pears Young Artists programme.
Chen’s work in contemporary music runs alongside her classical repertoire. In 2025 she played Boulez’s Sur Incises in a London centenary concert conducted by Susanna Mälkki, and she collaborates regularly with Manchester Collective and Her Ensemble at venues including the Southbank Centre and Milton Court. Earlier projects have connected her with composers such as Hans Abrahamsen (performing his Piano Concerto at the Royal Academy of Music), Mark-Anthony Turnage and Dominic Muldowney.
Her debut solo album, It’s Time (Linn Records, 2022), part of the Royal Academy of Music Bicentenary Series, explored cultural identity through works by Fazıl Say, Unsuk Chin, Sofia Gubaidulina and Eleanor Alberga. In 2024 she appears as pianist on Mendelssohn, Bach, Mozart with soprano Jasmin Iris Ghera (also in the Bicentenary Series), reflecting her parallel activity in vocal and chamber repertoire.
Born in China, Chen studied at the Shanghai Conservatoire before moving to London to work with Joanna MacGregor at the Royal Academy of Music, where she later held a fellowship. Her career now bridges continents and centuries, uniting classical lineage with a clear voice in today’s musical landscape.
Where to find Junyan Chen
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