Biography of Quei-Lih Chen

Quei-Lih Chen, a native of Tainan, Taiwan, made her first public appearance at the age of 13 with Tainan Junior Symphony Orchestra performing Mozart Piano Concert no. 23, K488 under the baton of Maestro Chao-Ming Cheng. Subsequently, she performed another concerto, Mendelssohn Piano Concerto in G minor with Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra.

In fall of 1985, Ms. Chen came to the United States to further her studies with Robert Weirich and Marian Hahn at the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, where she received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees. She also gained exposure to chamber music with Samuel Sanders during her five years at the Peabody. In 1989, she was the first prizewinner of Elizabeth Davis Piano Competition in Washington D.C. and consequently was invited to join the Friday Morning Club as a performing member.

In 1990, she was invited as a piano accompanist in the 9th International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow where she met pianist Daniel Pollack, one of the competition judges, who later granted her a full scholarship into University of Southern California. In 2001, she received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance with Instrumental Conducting and Piano Accompanying minors.

Over the years, Ms. Chen has frequently performed in many cities in the United States and Taiwan. One of the highlights was the Taiwan premiere of the Yellow River Piano Concerto with Taipei county Symphony Orchestra, which was televised through PBS in Taiwan. In 1995 upon the US premiere of Tyzen Hsiao’s Toccata at the Princeton, University the New Jersey Star Ledger praised her performance: "… with great force and brio, her interpretive gifts and keen sense of color informing another piece that hopefully will be heard many more times."

During her time in Los Angeles, Ms. Chen has been active not only as a soloist, a chamber musician, but also an educator. She was a member of MTAC for more than 10 years, and the chairperson of the Los Angeles Branch Sonata Festival. She was also frequently invited to be a judge at many competitions and festivals.

In the fall of 2008, Ms. Chen returned to her homeland Taiwan to serve as a faculty member at the Tainan University of Technology and Chang Jung University.

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"…… Pianist Quei - Lih Chen gave the U.S. Premiere of Hsiao's Toccata with great force and brio, her interpretive gifts and keen sense of color informing another piece that hopefully will be heard many more times ……" — The Star Ledger