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Ray Chen

Player 1

Decca Classics
Release Date: October 18, 2024

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Ray Chen plays Estrellita with Amsterdam Sinfonietta (encore)
Interview with WQED - Pittsburgh, Jim Cunningham
Ray Chen: Nobel Prize Concert 2012, behind the scenes
New Day Cleveland: Ray Chen
In the mind of Ray Chen: Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto
1 Romantic Flight (Arr. Herbert for Violin & Orchestra) - From How to Train Your Dragon  
2 Sadness & Sorrow (Arr. Rimmer for Violin & Orchestra) - From Naruto  
3 Main Theme (Arr. Skeet for Violin & Orchestra) - From The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom  
4 Korngold I. Moderato nobile [Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35]  
5 Korngold II. Romance. Andante [Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35]  
6 Korngold/ III. Finale. Allegro assai vivace [Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35]  
7 I Remember My Name (Arr. Langley for Violin & Orchestra) - From Squid Game  
8 Tanzil Serenade  
9 Pallet Town (Arr. Skeet for Violin & Orchestra) - From Poke´mon Red  
10 Isabella's Lullaby (Arr. Rimmer for Violin & Orchestra) - From The Promised Neverland  
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Decca Classics is thrilled to announce award-winning violinist, entrepreneur, and pioneer Ray Chen's innovative new album, Player 1, to be released globally on October 18, 2024. The first single, Sadness & Sorrow (from Naruto) by Toshio Masuda (arr. Benjamin Rimmer).

Blending classical music with the immersive world of gaming, the album also comprises a thrilling array of themes from television, Anime, and film including The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Pokémon, and Squid Game.

Recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Cristian Macelaru, these compositions gravitate around the sonic centerpiece of Erich Korngold’s Violin Concerto. The Austrian composer was a pioneering 20th-century classical composer who became one of the first musicians of international stature to score films for Hollywood. Like Ray, Erich was a child prodigy. Like Ray, he was drawn to the dramatic and the cinematic. And like Ray, he understood the thrill of storytelling.

Nostalgia looms in surprising and uplifting ways on this album. Ray performs with the 1714 ‘Dolphin’ Stradivarius, which is on loan from the Nippon Foundation. This violin was once owned by Jascha Heifetz, who has been hailed as the greatest violin virtuoso since Niccolò Paganini and who premiered the Korngold Concerto in 1947. Ray is the web that binds everything together. “Player 1 aims to create a meaningful connection between the past and the present,” he says.

Ray Chen’s mission now is to challenge traditional perceptions of classical music, making it accessible and inspiring. Nintendo consoles, TV dramas, films, anime, soundtracks, and a near-century-old work by Korngold may at first seem like disparate cultural phenomena. But they have one thing in common. They weave fantasies. Player 1 is a contemporary journey into these fantastical realms.

  • Ray Chen brings two-day classical music festival to Los Angeles / Violinist.com
    Posted At: September 30, 2024 12:00 AM
    Violinist.com writes…..Violin superstar Ray Chen wants people to feel supported in their efforts to learn the violin and other instruments. To that end he has teamed up with the Colburn School to hold a two-day classical music festival in Los Angeles called TonicCon, named for and co-sponsored by Chen's practice app called Tonic. The event takes place October 10 and 11 at Colburn, featuring master classes, ...
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  • Ahead of his Armstrong Auditorium date, Ray Chen stops by the Coca-Cola SW Beverages Porch to chat and play / News on 6
    Posted At: March 13, 2024 12:00 AM
    Violinist and online personality, Ray Chen redefines what it means to be a classical musician in the 21st century. With a global reach that enhances and inspires a new classical audience, Ray Chen's remarkable musicianship transmits to millions around the world, reflected through his engagements both online and with the foremost orchestras and concert halls around the world. Beyond the performing arts, his ...
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  • Cool, charming and charismatic, Ray Chen dazzles with SSO in Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto / LIMELIGHT
    Posted At: August 19, 2022 12:00 AM
    LIMELIGHT's Steve Moffatt writes….Since exploding on to the classical music scene in 2011 when he performed the Brahms Violin Concerto with Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Taiwanese-Australian violinist Ray Chen has proved to be one of the most exciting of the younger generation of performers.Still only 33, he has built up a huge following of fans, both through his concert appearances and his savvy use of social...
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  • VC ARTIST: Ray Chen
    Posted At: August 11, 2020 12:00 AM

    Australian violin virtuoso Ray Chen has established himself as one of the most prodigiously talented and captivating instrumentalists to emerge internationally. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Aaron Rosand, Ray is a former 1st prize winner at the Menuhin and Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competitions.  His debuts include solo engagements with major inter...
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  • Ray Chen's 'Solace' is the WFMT: Featured New Release
    Posted At: August 10, 2020 12:00 AM

    Award-winning violinist Ray Chen has a released a new album entitled Solace, sharing movements from J. S. Bach's Six Sonatas and Partitas. The events of 2020 which brought the world to a standstill have also created a time for self-reflection and a renewed appreciation of the power of music. Chen explains, "Music heals the soul, it calms us, centers us, and creates focus in our lives. Bach's musi...
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  • Ray Chen's lockdown produces 'Solace' / udiscovermusic.
    Posted At: August 5, 2020 12:00 AM

    Award-winning violinist Ray Chen, described as "the ray of sunshine in the violin world" by The Times, has announced his new studio album Solace, professionally recorded and released from his home during the global lockdown, will be digitally released on 7 August 2020.  Solace features six movements from J. S. Bach's Six Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin representing the personal and powerful fee...
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  • Mason, Ma, Chen, Hahn make WCRB's best classical music album releases of 2018
    Posted At: December 13, 2018 12:00 AM

    First things first: this is not a "Top Ten" list. All of WCRB: Boston's CDs of the Week are Top Ten-worthy, so instead, we asked our staff an even harder question: which CD of the Week was your number one favorite this year? Here are our picks for the best classical music album releases of 2018. The Standout Favorite - Jay Fondin: My favorite CD of the Week is Sheku Kanneh-Mason's "Inspiratio...
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  • Ugly disclaimer from Ray Chen - This is what a real practice session looks like
    Posted At: November 19, 2018 12:00 AM

    a message from Ray Chen........ 'The purpose of this video is to give people a fair idea of how a real practice session looks like when you approach a piece from scratch. You usually hear the sparkly clean finished product, but it tends to always start somewhere deep in ugly-town. Sometimes practicing is demotivating, especially when Señor Show-off over on instagram has uploaded a perfect 1-mi...
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  • Ray Chen interview with IdeaStationWCVE
    Posted At: November 9, 2018 12:00 AM

    One of today's most outstanding young violinists, Ray Chen, has released a new album "The Golden Age." It's "a thrilling collection of chamber and orchestral works," released on the Decca Classics label. Chen handpicked a selection of works that he says celebrate the "golden age" of the violin, "not only in terms of repertoire, but also in terms of performance style and ingenuity." While centered...
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  • Ray Chen says bow sound is about speed, weight, location
    Posted At: September 4, 2018 12:00 AM

    This week Ray Chen is talking about SOUND and how to produce various colors of sound which is one of the most important things in music making. Chen's new album The Golden Age – on Decca Classics is a thrilling collection of chamber and orchestral works which the violinist handpicked to celebrate the "golden age" of the violin – not only in terms of repertoire, but also in terms of perfor...
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  • Ray Chen's bittersweet violin sweeps over Perth Concert Hall / The West Australian
    Posted At: August 26, 2018 12:00 AM

    A pin drop or a pen's scratch would have rent the air as Ray Chen's high harmonics held the Perth Concert Hall on a fingertip at the apogee of Matthew Hindson's Dark Matter. This new work for Musica Viva explores both the depth of human frailty - framed by the composer's father's death - and the hidden hand of cosmic fate: the dark matter that binds the universe. At the introduction, Julien Quentin leane...
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  • Ray Chen will return to Brisbane in major coup for Queensland Symphony Orchestra / news.com.au
    Posted At: August 16, 2018 12:00 AM

    VIOLIN megastar Ray Chen will return to Brisbane next year to play Bach and Mendelssohn, in a major coup for the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. Mr Chen, 29, has millions of followers on social media and is regarded as the first classical virtuoso "rock star". He was born in Taiwan but grew up in Brisbane. Details of his Brisbane concerts are expected to be unveiled tomorrow by musical director Alondra de...
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  • Ray Chen previews 'The Golden Age' with 91.3WGTE - Toledo
    Posted At: August 7, 2018 12:00 AM

    Ray Chen's new album - The Golden Age is a thrilling collection of chamber and orchestral works. Released in June, it is Chen's first recording on Decca Classics since signing to the label last year. The Violinist handpicked the selection of works for the  album, all of which celebrate the "golden age" of the violin – not only in terms of repertoire, but also in terms of performance st...
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  • Ray Chen - The Golden Age is 99.5WCRB: CD Of the Week
    Posted At: July 16, 2018 12:00 AM

    With a precious instrument once owned by one of the most legendary violinists of all time, Ray Chen has channeled the flexible charm of the players of the past on his new recording "The Golden Age," WCRB's CD of the Week! Bookending the CD are performances by Made in Berlin, Chen's own string quartet. The opening piece, "A New Satiesfaction" is a mesmerizing arrangement by cellist Stephan Koncz that ...
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  • Ray Chen - The Golden Age is WRTI: Classical Album of the Week
    Posted At: July 11, 2018 12:00 AM

    Violinist Ray Chen is a local luminary who is lighting up classical music world wide.  He's appeared with orchestras across the U.S. and throughout Europe, and began recording with Sony Classics in 2010. Now 29, he has an engaging new CD his first with Decca Classics-The Golden Age-which we are celebrating as Album of the Week. Ray Chen made his way to Philadelphia in a circuitous route that sta...
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  • Ray Chen, connecting with audiences / WRTI
    Posted At: July 10, 2018 12:00 AM

    Described by critics as "preternaturally gifted," and his music "spellbinding," violinist Ray Chen performs all over the world. He's also distinguishing himself off the concert stage with over 100 YouTube videos ranging from zany comedy to a motivational series. Chen talked with WRTI: Philadelphia - Susan Lewis about his new album, The Golden Age, and about how recapturing joy may be the key to m...
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  • Ray Chen - The Golden Age is KDFC: Album Of the Week
    Posted At: July 9, 2018 12:00 AM

    Born in Taiwan, raised in Australia, violinist Ray Chen is a citizen of the world and making waves currently as a rising violin superstar. This week, KDFC: San Francisco focuses on his new album, The Golden Age, which features a performance of the Bruch Violin Concerto #1 with the London Philharmonic, as well as shorter works that spotlight his immense talent. For the Week of July 9th, KDFC sele...
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  • Ray Chen - The Golden Age is KUSC: Album Of the Week
    Posted At: July 9, 2018 12:00 AM

    Born in Taiwan, raised in Australia, violinist Ray Chen is a citizen of the world and making waves currently as a rising violin superstar. This week, KUSC: Los Angeles focuses on his new album, The Golden Age, which features a performance of the Bruch Violin Concerto #1 with the London Philharmonic, as well as shorter works that spotlight his immense talent. For the Week of July 9th, KUSC selects; Ra...
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  • Ray Chen and Joshua Bell both have new albums featuring Bruch's G minor concerto / Daily Mail
    Posted At: July 7, 2018 12:00 AM

    I first encountered Bruch's G Minor Concerto when I was 13. I loved it then, and more than half a century on, I still do. It's a piece I never tire of; familiarity merely breeds an even deeper affection. There are so many recordings of it, who needs another one, let alone two? But when they are as good as these are, who's complaining? Joshua Bell is not only a first-class virtuoso, but has arguably t...
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  • Ray Chen set for Mozart's Fifth Violin Concerto with the ACS / Aspen Times
    Posted At: July 6, 2018 12:00 AM

    The violinist Ray Chen is redefining what it means to be a classical music star. Yes, Chen is a virtuoso who can don a tuxedo and inspire awe as a soloist, as he will Friday when he performs Mozart's Fifth Violin Concerto with the Aspen Chamber Symphony. Yet he also has an online following in the millions - a fan base that clicks to hear his music but also to watch his goofy videos or to see him mess...
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  • Ray Chen joins WRTI: Philadelpia - Susan Lewis in studio
    Posted At: July 3, 2018 12:00 AM

    p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060; min-height: 14.0px} Ray Chen has just released his new album - The Golden Age, a thrilling collection of chamber and orchestral works on Decca Classics. The Violinist handpicked selections which celebrate the "golden age" of the vi...
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  • Ray Chen - The Golden Age is WFMT: Featured New Release
    Posted At: July 2, 2018 12:00 AM

    Deemed one of today's most charismatic and compelling young violinists, Ray Chen presents The Golden Age – a collection of chamber and orchestral works and his first recording on Decca Classics since signing to the label. Chen handpicked a selection of works, all of which celebrate the "golden age" of the violin. The centerpiece is Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1, performed with the London Philha...
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  • Ray Chen discusses 'The Golden Age' with Classical Radio
    Posted At: July 2, 2018 12:00 AM

    Deemed one of today's most charismatic and compelling young violinists, Ray Chen reveals his new album The Golden Age – a thrilling collection of chamber and orchestral works. It is his first recording on Decca Classics since signing to the label last year. The Violinist handpicked a selection of works for the upcoming album, all of which celebrate the "golden age" of the violin – not onl...
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  • Ray Chen talks with Global Times about using social media to promote classical music
    Posted At: July 2, 2018 12:00 AM

    Instead the serious silhouette he presents at concerts, many non-hardcore fans' first impression of Chinese Australian violinist Ray Chen comes from the funny videos he posts on Facebook and SoundCloud. The first prize winner of the 2008 International Yehudi Menuhin Violin Competition and the 2009 Queen Elisabeth Music Competition and the second ethnic Chinese musician to perform at the annual No...
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  • KCRW: Rhythm Planet - New Music Gems features Ray Chen - Golden Age
    Posted At: June 30, 2018 12:00 AM

    This week, we listen to the newest gems in jazz, classical, and world music. We begin with an unusual and interesting version of Erik Satie's famous "Gymnopédie #1," featuring the superb Taiwanese-Australian virtuoso violinist Ray Chen. Although I've heard this famous Satie piece many times, Chen's take on it from his debut Decca Classics album sounds completely new and fresh. Chen won the prestig...
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  • Today, is a special day for Ray Chen / CHINADAILY
    Posted At: June 21, 2018 12:00 AM

    Because today - June 8, Ray Chen reveals his new album The Golden Age – a thrilling collection of chamber and orchestral works. Deemed one of today's most charismatic and compelling young violinists, Golden Age is Chen's first recording on Decca Classics since signing to the label last year. The Violinist handpicked a selection of works for the album, all of which celebrate the "golden...
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  • Their plane was stuck on the tarmac; so Ray Chen broke out the Strad / Nola.com
    Posted At: May 26, 2018 12:00 AM

    When Ray Chen, the professional violinist, found himself stuck on an plane on the tarmac in Porto, Portugal, he offered his fellow stranded passengers something they don't ordinarily get from their airlines: A brief Bach concert, played on a 300-year-old Stradivarius.  A smiling Chen walked down the aisle serenading the passengers, many of them shooting video on their phones. Even one of the fli...
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  • Ray Chen joins Pacific Symphony in first concert of 2018 / Orange County Breeze
    Posted At: December 15, 2017 12:00 AM

    Remarkably, Ludwig van Beethoven wrote but one violin concerto in his prodigious lifetime. While this alone makes the concerto special, it also has become one of the most widely played and popular works for the instrument. Under the spotlight for Pacific Symphony's first concert of 2018, the concerto is famous for its highly spirited final movement. The work's grandeur-every bit as lush as any of his pia...
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  • Ray Chen's Shostakovich concerto with SSO was thrilling and thoughtful / The Australian
    Posted At: November 14, 2017 12:00 AM

    The music of Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich is arguably more politically loaded than that of any other composer. Some even question whether we can hear his music only as music. Of the three works in this all-Shostakovich concert, it is the first violin concerto (1947) that can be divorced from politics most easily. When I last heard Australian violinist Ray Chen with the Sydney Symphony Orchest...
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  • Ray Chen's Bruch VC No. 1 with PSO is impeccable / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
    Posted At: October 13, 2017 12:00 AM

    Ray Chen headlined Friday's Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra concert with the Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor alongside Polish guest conductor Krzysztof Urbanski, who also led the orchestra in Beethoven's Egmont Overture and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5. Mr. Chen's technique was impeccable. He luxuriated through the opening arpeggios and excelled through Bruch's fervent opening movement. His second ...
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  • Schiff, Avital, Chen, Benedetti & Tafelmusik among 'Musica Viva' 2018 highlights / Sydney Morning Herald
    Posted At: August 15, 2017 12:00 AM

    One of the greatest living pianists, Sir Andras Schiff, returns to Australia after more than two decades next year as the highlight of one of the most ambitious seasons in years for Musica Viva. Schiff, especially noted as a Bach specialist, will play a gala recital in Melbourne and Sydney, with an attractive but different program ranging from Bach to Brahms in each city in October, according to the just...
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  • Ray Chen plays with The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra / The Baltimore Sun review
    Posted At: May 23, 2014 12:00 AM

    If you like your romanticism with extra layers of hot fudge -- I say bring it on -- this week's Baltimore Symphony Orchestra program is just the ticket. Two super-lyrical, extra-passionate Russian works, Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto and Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2, make a sumptuous, satisfying pair. Both were served up in rousing fashion Thursday night at Meyerhoff Hal. Hans Graf, ...
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  • Ray Chen - Mozart: Violin Concertos & Sonatas / Audiophile Audition review
    Posted At: May 5, 2014 12:00 AM

    Recorded 21-23 July 2013 at the annual Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, these refreshing Mozart performances rather elevate the "virtuoso" status of Ray Chen into someone more "musical." The suave solo writing by the nineteen-year-old Mozart for Salzburg in 1775 combines affectionate lyricism in K. 216 with an unfettered brio that Chen and Christoph Eschenbach engage with breezy affection. Some may fee...
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  • Ray Chen - Mozart: Violin Concertos & Sonatas / Limelight review
    Posted At: April 3, 2014 12:00 AM

    Ray Chen's rise to fame since winning the Menuhin competition in 2008 has been meteoric and with a musical endorsement from Maxim Vengerov and a sartorial deal with Giorgio Armani, he's sounding and looking like the full classical celebrity package. This sparkling Mozart collaboration will only enhance the Taiwanese-born, Brisbane-raised violinist's formidable reputation. In Mozart's Violin Concertos...
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  • Ray Chen's Mozart: Violin Concertos & Sonatas is KDFC 'Download Of the Week'
    Posted At: April 2, 2014 12:00 AM

    Each week KDFC San Francisco members can download a free mp3 from some of the biggest releases in the world of Classical music through their eNotes newsletter. This week you can download a free mp3 of Ray Chen and Christoph Eschenbach performing the final movement from Mozart's Sonata for Violin and Orchestra No. 4 in D major.  Mozart: Violin Concertos & Sonatas is violinist Ray Che...
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