Ray Chen

Last night was one of the most beautiful evenings I've had with the Sydney Sympony Orchestra (SSO) at the Opera House in years. Ray Chen, a 21yr old Taiwanese violinist, was the highlight of the evening with his performance of the Brahms violin concerto. My friend Emily, who normally performs with the SSO had the night off and had a spare ticket for me. Luckily her boyfriend was away in New Zealand racing across the mountains in a fitness competition (swimming, running, cycling, kayaking, climbing, ...). He's very cool. We like him.
Ray Chen is a young, smart, powerful, super intelligent, creative, soft, direct, 'straight-up', confident, inspiring violinist. He took our breath away. It was stunning to see someone so young have so much fun with something that looms over so many musicians. He, and the orchestra, had a great time and the audience was left speechless.  He gave me a lot to think about with my own playing, options, approaches, techniques, colours, movement, sound, space, ..... Along with the concerto the orchestra performed a Berlioz overture and Tchaikovsky symphony, also far beyond my expectations.