American-Chinese musical charms Beijing audience

John Chen, a young pianist from the US, left the audience speechless at a National Center of Performing Arts concert last week in Beijing.

A youngster born in 1993, Chen began playing piano at the age of five in the US, under the instruction of highly acclaimed Russian pianist, Anna Balakerskaia.

Musical renderings by Chen have caught the ear of several Chinese pianists, including the renowned pianist Lang Lang, who, after attending a presentation in Washington, DC, predicted a bright future for the youngster.　

Chen was only 11 when he received this praise, and by that age had already placed first in national competitions in the US, including concertos he presented for the Music Teachers National Association and in the World Piano Competition in 2005.

The concert in DC led to further prestigious shows such as the US World Music Festival and notably a year later when he was given the opportunity to collaborate with State Capella-Glinka Symphony Orchestra in the State Glinka Capella Concert in Moscow.

As the acclaim for Chen has grown, he has received the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Foundation scholarship. The award is from a private, independent foundation established to help exceptionally promising students reach their full potential through education, and they designated Chen as the most outstanding young learner in America.

The year of 2010 was an eventful one for Chen. He presented alongside the American National Symphony Orchestra in the Kennedy Center Music Hall in Washington. He then went on the road to Cleveland, Ohio, where he played with the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall. After these two successful performances he teamed up for the first time with the China National Symphony Orchestra.

In between music and school, Chen also takes the time to give back to the community, such as at a retirement home in Virginia.

In 2008, he reached out to victims of the earthquake in Sichuan Province, where he organized a solo piano concert, from which all the proceeds were donated to schools destroyed in the disaster.