Keynes Chen
Violin teacher Classical, College Preparatory, Private Lessons, Quartet Coaching, Suzuki
Yin-Feng Keynes Chen began his violin study at four, and entered Chongqing School of the Arts at the age of eleven, then the prestigious Shanghai Music Conservatory when he was thirteen. In 1995, he moved his violin study to CU Boulder and received Master Degree of Music Performance from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Throughout Mr. Chen’s music career, he has received numerous prestigious awards which include the Denes Koromzay Chamber Music Award; winner of CU College of Music’s Concerto Competition in 2000; winner of both the State and Regional Music Teachers’ National Association Music Competition in 2001; and first prize-winner in the 2002 Bruce Ekstrand Competition with his former quartet-Nacht Quartet, which was the Graduate String Quartet in Residence and the Performance Teaching Assistant ant CU Boulder. He was chosen to attend the Takács Quartet seminar both in 1999 and 2001, and was awarded with full scholarship to participate in the Australian Chamber Music Festival in 1998, and scholarship to the prestigious Aspen Music festival in 1999. He was a first violin sectional member of the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra and has lead as the concertmaster for its orchestra tour in 2000–2001. His frequent regional performances have included numerous performances in the CU Music School’s Faculty Concert Series, a solo concert with the CU Symphony Orchestra; a solo recital for the Colorado Music Festival in 2001; two solo performances with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra’s Up Close and Musical Concert Series; and a duet performance with the world renowned Grammy winner, Kitaro, at the Boulder Theater in 2003; a series of chamber music concerts for the Backyard Arts Series in 2005; a duet concert for Boulder Chamber Orchestra’s 2007 concert series; a joint recital with pianist Mr. Weng Lei at CU Music School’s Guest Artist Recital Series in 2009, and as well as a quartet recital for Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra’s Chamber Music Series in 2010.
Besides Mr. Chen’s performance career, he has been teaching violin since 1994 and he has received this complete Suzuki pedagogy training under the famed Suzuki Pedagogue Dr. William Starr. Mr. Chen was the principle violin teacher for Englewood Arts’ Strings Attached program at five different Englewood public schools from 2003-2005. Mr. Chen Currently serves as the Music Director for Longmont Youth Symphony; He was also the Artistic Director for Boulder Youth Symphony and Conductor for Colorado Youth Symphony’s Sinfonia Orchestra and Philharmonia Orchestra. In the summer of 2010, Mr. Chen has leaded a successful youth symphony tour in China which they have visited and performed in numerous cities. He also serves as the Executive Director of A Mid-Summer Day’s Dream String Camp in Boulder. Starting the summer of 2006, Mr. Chen became the first violinist for the Illuminati Quartet, and they perform and teach for the String Quartet Program of Northern Colorado at both Greeley and Fort Collins, Colorado. Because of his passion for music education, Mr. Chen and his wife Regan Kane, have also co-founded a high-standard music school in the Boulder area called Flatirons Strings Academy since 2007.