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«Pi-Chin Chien was born to play the ‘cello ...
she is the talent for which I have been waiting for decades ... »

This was what Pierre Fournier (one of the greatest ‘cellists of the 20th century) said when he first heard her.

Pi-Chin Chien is a sought after, internationally active soloist and chamber musician. Her current projects include «Dialogues Cellestes», a concerto for two cellos and orchestra, written for her and Antonio Meneses by the Swiss composer Fabian Müller. The work will be recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London in spring 2011.

She is a member of the «European Fine Arts Trio») with Tomasz Tomaszewski (violin) and Francois Killian (piano), with whom she records in the moment the complete works of Beethoven for piano trio. The first CD was released in fall 2009. She is also a member of the «Harry White Trio» and solo-cellist of the» Stradivari-Ensemble.
Her third CD recording for the label «Musiques Suisses», together with pianist Adrian Oetiker devoted to works for cello and piano by three Swiss composers (Paul Juon, Othmar Schoeck and Fabian Müller).

 

Her previous CD recording for Musiques Suisses took place in 2006, when Pi-Chin Chien, accompanied by the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, recorded the «Suite for ‘cello and string orchestra» dedicated to her by the Swiss composer Fabian Müller, to whom she is married.
In 2006, on the invitation of the «Formosa Chamber Music Society», Pi-Chin Chien and the pianist Beatrice Long gave a recital at Carnegie Hall in New York. More concerts took place in New Jersey.

In 2004, she was invited to concerts and master classes in Vancouver, Canada and Taiwan. She also sat on the panel of adjudicators at ‘cello competitions in both countries.
During spring of the same year she was on tour in Europe as a soloist with the «Academy of Taiwan Strings» and, in the National Music Hall in Taiwan, played the premiere of a ‘cello concerto dedicated to her. In 2003 she appeared in concerts in the Alice Tully Hall in the Lincoln Centre in New York and, together with the Petersen Quartett of Berlin, recorded a CD for the Capriccio label.
In 2002 Pi-Chin Chien, together with the Krakauer Philharmoniker and under the baton of Tomasz Bugaij, recorded on CD the world premiere of the ‘cello concerto by Paul Juon.
She played to honour Richard von Weizsäcker (former president of Germany) when he was awarded the Kaiser Otto Medal of the City of Magdeburg and at the invitation of the Taiwanese president in the series of renowned concerts at the presidential palace.
In 2001, together with the Philharmonia Orchestra London, conducted by David Zinman, she recorded on CD under the col legno label another ‘cello concerto dedicated to her.

During spring 2000, she performed «Schelomo» by Ernest Bloch, amongst other works, on tour accompanied by the «National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra» and appeared at the «Musique et Amitié» Summer Festival in Biel. In 1999, she performed exclusively 20th century works at the «International Contemporary Music Festival» in Taipei.

Chamber Musician

She is a member of the «European Fine Arts Trio» and solo ‘cellist of the «Stradivari-Ensemble» formed in 2006. Together with the world class saxophone player Harry White and the pianist Edward Rushton, she explores new directions as part of the «Harry White Trio», which was established in 2007. Edward Rushton also made a name for himself as a composer.
The «European Fine Arts Trio» is considered one of the best contemporary piano trios. It was established in 1999 and consists of Tomasz Tomaszewski, violin, Pi-Chin Chien, ‘cello and Francois Killian, piano. The ensemble gave concerts in all important European cultural centres as well as Asia and the Middle East. The trio appeared at numerous festivals and is internationally in demand for master classes.
The European Fine Arts Trio is committed to performing rarely played yet worthwhile works and has predominantly contributed to the rediscovery of the late romantic composer Paul Juon. Apart from Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, which the European Fine Arts Trio repeatedly performed with famous orchestras, the recording of the Triple Concerto by Paul Juon for the «Musiques Suisses» label caused a considerable stir. In 2001, a CD with the piano trios by Chopin and Debussy received the highly prestigious «Fryderyk» prize in Poland.
Pi-Chin Chien is the solo ‘cellist of the «Stradivari-Ensemble», which made its debut with a brilliant first appearance in Zurich in 2006. This string ensemble was established in collaboration with the Stradivari Society of Chicago and Paris. It consists of world-class musicians who play on some of the most beautiful string instruments in the world.

Together with Harry White (alto saxophone) and Edward Rushton (piano), Pi-Chin Chien established the «Harry White Trio», which consists of a unique combination of instruments.
Inspired by the extraordinary sound produced by this unique combination, many composers have meanwhile been writing works for this ensemble. Furthermore, the «Harry White Trio» has got arrangements of its in-house composer Edward Rushton in its repertoire, for instance the extremely attractive transcriptions of piano pieces by Emmanuel Chabries (1841 – 1894) and works like the piano trio by Clara Schumann, which are taken to completely new dimensions because of the extraordinary sounds.
Curriculum vitae

Pi-Chin was born in Taiwan. Her outstanding talent came to attention while she was still a child. Her solo career began at the age of 13, when she made a public appearance with the ‘cello concerto by Camille Saint- Saëns while touring with the «Taipei Symphony Orchestra». Five years later she started her studies in Europe which she concluded «with distinction» for her soloist’s diploma.
Her teachers included Markus Stocker, Claude Starck, Marek Jerie and Stanislav Apolin. She received further artistic inspiration in master classes with Pierre Fournier, Mistlav Rostropovitsch, Yo-yo Ma, Eberhard Finke, Danil Shafran, Zara Nelsova and Arto Noras.
Pi-Chin Chien received numerous awards. She won 1st prize in the International Chamber Music Competition in Kerkrade in Holland and received a Special Prize in the Leonard Rose Competition in Washington. In her home country she repeatedly received the 1st prize in the International Music Competition. In Switzerland she was the winner of several sponsorship and study prizes (Förderungs-Preis der Stadt Zürich, Kiwanis Prize, Koecker Prize, Edwin Fischer Prize). She also was also winner of the competition «Förderung junger Musiker» under the sponsorship of the UBS

(Translation: Maria Randall)