“Her performance sounded fresh and spontaneous, yet emotionally profound and intellectually well-structured.” (The Jerusalem Post)

American violinist Stella Chen garnered worldwide attention with her first-prize win at the 2019 Queen Elizabeth International Violin Competition, followed by the 2020 Avery Fisher Career Grant and 2020 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award.

Since then, Stella has appeared across North America and beyond in concerto, recital, and chamber music performances. She recently made debuts with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and many others and appeared at the Vienna Musikverein and Berlin Philharmonie with the Malta Philharmonic. In July 2022 she returned to Belgium in a live TV and radio broadcast of the Korngold Concerto with the Belgian National Orchestra. In recital, recent appearances include Carnegie Hall, the Phillips Collection, Rockport Music Festival, and Nume Festival in Italy. She appears frequently with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center both in New York and on tour.

In her 22-23 season Stella continues to appear with orchestras throughout the world, including her debuts with the Baltimore and North Carolina Symphonies and performs in recital Lincoln Center. Her all-Schubert debut studio album appears in December 2022.

Stella has appeared as a chamber musician in festivals including the Kronberg Academy, Ravinia, Seattle Chamber Music, Perlman Music Program, Music@Menlo, Bridgehampton, Rockport, and Sarasota. Chamber music partners include Itzhak Perlman, Donald Weilerstein, Matthew Lipman, Robert Levin, and more.

She is the first recipient of the Robert Levin Award from Harvard University, the top prize winner of the Tibor Varga International Violin Competition and youngest-ever prize winner of the Menuhin Competition. Stella plays the 1700 ex-Petri Stradivarius, on generous loan from Dr. Ryuji Ueno and Rare Violins In Consortium, Artists and Benefactors Collaborative and the 1708 Huggins Stradivarius courtesy of the Nippon Foundation.

Stella received her doctorate from the Juilliard School, where she serves as a teaching assistant to her longtime mentor, Li Lin.