Evie Chen

Evie Chen is on the faculty of the University of Tennessee Knoxville, where she teaches her violin studio, directs the UTK String Project, and coordinates chamber music. A passionate educator, she has instructed music theory at Rice University and has given masterclasses around the Houston area on musicianship, methods of practice, injury prevention, Alexander Technique as a resource, and ways of approaching contemporary music. In her private practice, she fosters independence and autonomy of learning with ergonomic versatility as key trademarks of her studio.

Evie made her debut with the Fremont Symphony Orchestra at age 8 after being the youngest to win the Nafisa Taghioff Award in the FSO’s Young Artists Competition. Since then, she has received recognition at several competitions and performed concertos with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, California Youth Symphony, Eastman Philharmonia, Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra, and most recently, the Houston Symphony Orchestra where she premiered Erberk Erylmaz’s Second Violin Concerto.

An equally versatile artist with a deep experience in a variety of musical fields, she has enjoyed playing symphonic works alongside the Houston Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Charleston Symphony Orchestra, and the Victoria Symphony Orchestra. Evie also values the importance of bringing novel musical genres to diverse audiences, particularly through the evolving communication of chamber music. Her interest in collaboration has led to her ongoing performances with Hoppa! Project, a group of musicians dedicated to presenting both folk and new works by composers from Eastern Europe and the Middle East. She has also been a part of several contemporary string chamber concerts for MUSIQA, a new music initiative based in Houston that seeks to integrate new music with other modern art-forms. During the summer season, she is a faculty artist at the Bay View Music Festival in northern Michigan and a recurring guest artist at Kalmia Garden Music and Arts.

Evie earned her master’s degree with Paul Kantor at Rice University and continues working towards her DMA. She received a BM in violin performance and a BA in psychology through the University of Rochester and Eastman School of Music, where she was additionally awarded the Performer’s Certificate under the tutelage of Mikhail Kopelman.