JunyanChen
- Piano


About Junyan
Leeds International Piano Competition 2024 • Second Prize & The Marion Thorpe Silver Medal • Chamber Music Prize (Yaltah Menuhin Award) • Work by a Woman Composer Prize (Alexandra Dariescu Award) Artistic Director of the Leeds International Chamber Series 2025/26
Junyan Chen will make her debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra this season performing Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No 4. She played this concerto in the final of the Leeds International Piano Competition 2024, where she won Second Prize. In Leeds she collaborated with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Domingo Hindoyan; having previously performed the work with Edward Gardner and the Royal Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra.
Highlights of the 2025/26 season include solo recital debuts in Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Fribourg, and at the Klavier-Festival Ruhr, as well as a return to Wigmore Hall in London. In 2025 Junyan performed Sur Incises in a London concert celebrating the centenary of Pierre Boulez, conducted by Susanna Mälkki. As an enthusiastic performer of contemporary music, she regularly collaborates with Manchester Collective and Her Ensemble. Junyan has worked closely with composers including Hans Abrahamsen, Mark Anthony-Turnage and Dominic Muldowney.
Her debut solo album, It's Time (Linn Records, 2022), features works by Fazıl Say, Unsuk Chin, Sofia Gubaidulina, and Eleanor Alberga. The disc explores cultural identity through a diverse range of musical genres and art forms.
Junyan Chen lives in London, having recently graduated from the Royal Academy of Music where she studied with Professor Joanna MacGregor.
Contact
For availability and general enquiries:

Alison Nethsingha
Representation
Worldwide general management with Askonas Holt
Season Highlights
Video
- Playing
Béla Bartók - Three Etudes, I. Allegro molto
Filmed at the Royal Academy of Music, as part of an exclusive session for Classic FM. Credit: Classic FM
Leeds International Piano Competition Final
St George's Hall, Bradford~ September 2024 ~ Rachmaninov No. 4 ~ Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra with Domingo Hindoyan Credit: Leeds International Piano Competition
Leeds International Piano Competition - Semi-final Round
The Great Hall, University of Leeds – September 2024 – solo works by Unsuk Chin and Harrison Birtwistle, Ravel Trio Credit: Leeds International Piano Competition
Leeds International Piano Competition - Second Round
The Great Hall, University of Leeds ~ September 2024 ~ solo works by Beethoven, Bartók, Liszt Credit: Leeds International Piano Competition
Leeds International Piano Competition - First Round
Berlin University of Arts ~ April 2024 ~ solo works by CPE Bach, Dutilleux Credit: Leeds International Piano Competition
Junyan Chen performs an excerpt from Liszt’s Piano Sonata in B Minor
Filmed in May 2023 at the Angela Burgess Recital Hall, Royal Academy of Music, London. Credit: Royal Academy of Music, London
Sample Programmes
Programme 1
CPE BACH: Piano Sonata in A Major, H. 186 HARRISON BIRTWISTLE: Oockooing Bird & Sad Song BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata in A Major, Op. 101 Interval LISZT: Funérailles AMY BEACH: Variations on Balkan Themes
Programme 2
COUPERIN Les Barricades Mistérieuses, Le Tic-Toc-Choc ou Les Maillotins, Les Ombres Errantes, Les Tricoteuses MESSIAEN Preludes La colombe, Un reflet dans le vent RAVEL Tombeau de Couperin Interval AMY BEACH Variations on Balkan Themes RAVEL La Valse
Programme 3 (60 mins)
FAZIL SAY: Black Earth THOMAS LARCHER: Noodivihik HARRISON BIRTWISTLE: Oockooing Bird & Sad Song IANNIS XENAKIS: Evryali MAURICIO KAGEL: Ragtime Waltz JONATHAN HARVEY: Tombeau de Messiaen for Piano and Tape
News
Press
Rachmaninov No. 4 with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
St George's Hall, BradfordSep 2024The vivacity was outstanding…vintage Rachmaninov.
- The Arts Desk
- 23 September 2024
Junyan Chen's phenomenal Liszt
Royal Academy of Music, LondonMay 2023Liszt's Piano Sonata in B minor, an exhilarating and technically thrilling performance.
- Gramophone
- 11 May 2023