Ying-Hsueh Chen

Ying-Hsueh Chen is an internationally acclaimed percussionist, performance artist and composer who has garnered attention for her versatile and visionary approach, captivating stage presence and extraordinary interpretations of contemporary music. The Taiwanese artist has been based in Denmark since 2006, where she has played a role in pushing the boundaries of the contemporary music scene in recent years. Her musical endeavours span a range of genres, from classical to avant-garde and experimental music.

She has performed at music festivals in both Europe and Asia and has collaborated as a soloist with ensembles such as the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra and the Danish National Vocal Ensemble. Her captivating performances have reached listeners across Denmark, the US, Taiwan and South Korea through radio and television broadcasts, and have earned praise from publications such as The New York Times.

Her collaboration with composers, musicians and artists from various genres has become a defining aspect of her artistry. In recent years, she has been engaged in the project ‘Ancestral Modernism’, which explores the intersection of ancient and contemporary music by incorporating shamanic, trance-inducing and consciousness-expanding percussion styles. According to Chen, there is a unique magic that arises in the vibrant interplay of opposites during a percussion performance, allowing the music to access unexplored depths within our minds.

When she received the Danish Composers’ Association Music Prize in 2018, it was stated that it was precisely for her ability to ‘beautifully connect worlds’ through music that ‘springs from something infinitely ancient, thousands of kilometres away,’ yet ‘aligns itself alongside and melds with our entirely new, Danish music’. In 2023, she also received the Danish Music Critics' Artist Award.

Chen has played a wide spectrum of music, ranging from chamber music and Bach to works by Xenakis, Nørgård, Ligeti and contemporary music. Her attraction to the multifaceted nature of art and technical challenges is evident. However, it remains crucial to her that every piece of music she engages with feels authentic.

She is a graduate of The Juilliard School in New York and the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, where she was taught by Gert Mortensen. In 2019, her debut solo percussion release, Raw Elegance, was released by Orlando Records in Vienna.