Yuheng Chen, composer

Yuheng Chen began piano lessons at the age of five in China and, starting in 2017, studied composition at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw). Chen's teachers included Clara Iannotta and Michael Jarrell (composition) as well as Karlheinz Essl (electroacoustic composition). Chen also attended seminars and private classes with Mochizuki Misato, Olga Neuwirth, Ying Wang, Chaya Czernowin, Francesco Filidei, and Franck Bedrossian, among others. Yuheng Chen's work explores the possibilities of instrumental sound material and the fragile balance between noise and pitch. As a composer and performer, Chen focuses on investigating and pushing the boundaries of instrumental sound modulation. The fractured, broken, fleeting, and intense emotions that arise from the complexity of contemporary life are transformed into powerful and unique sonic landscapes. In 2022, Chen was a finalist in the Ö1 Talentebörse competition in Austria. In 2023, Chen was a laureate of the Toru Takemitsu Composition Award and received first prizes at the Concorso Internazionale di Composizione, the Frank Robert Abell Young Composers Competition in the USA, and the Irino Composition Prize in Japan. Chen's compositions have been presented at festivals and international concert venues, including the Witten Days of New Chamber Music, Tokyo Operacity Composium 2023, Impuls Festival Graz, Bludenzer Tage zeitgemäßer Musik, Klangspuren Schwaz, Festival Mixtur Barcelona and Wien Modern. Chen's works have been performed by various orchestras and ensembles, such as the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Ensemble Recherche, Ensemble Names, Ensemble Phace, Ensemble Platypus, and many others.

Yuheng Chen is a fellow of the KfW Stiftung as part of Frankfurt Moves!