Violist Beatrice Chen Joins the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Curtis congratulates Beatrice Chen, who joins the viola section of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on September 19 under the baton of Riccardo Muti during his farewell season.

Read the official announcement HERE.

Ms. Chen is a first prize winner of the 2018 Johansen International Competition for Young String Players and a three-time first prize winner of the American Protégé International Concerto Competition. In 2020, Ms. Chen was featured in The Philadelphia Orchestra’s HearNOW Gala, and she has appeared as a soloist with the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, Capital City Symphony, Oistrakh Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonietta DuPage, and the Vicente Chamber Orchestra. Before studying at Curtis, she served as the principal violist of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras for five years and has been a member of the Chen String Quartet, alongside her parents, CSO concertmaster Robert Chen, Laura Park Chen, and her brother, cellist Noah Chen.

Enjoy this performance by Beatrice Chen of Krzysztof Penderecki’s Cadenza for Solo Viola on the stage of Curtis’s Field Concert Hall in April 2019.