Ben Chen

Clarinetist Ben Chen made his American solo debut at the Kennedy Center, the result of winning the National Symphony Orchestra’s Summer Music Institute concerto competition. Recently appointed assistant principal and E-flat clarinetist of the Washington National Opera and Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, Ben will return to Washington, D.C., beginning in the 2018-2019 season. He currently collaborates with a wide range of groups in Cleveland as a member of the Pierrot ensemble Ars Futura and the award-winning North Coast Winds quintet, while simultaneously holding positions with the Erie Philharmonic, the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, and as principal clarinetist of the Youngstown Symphony. He has also performed with The Cleveland Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony, and the New World Symphony with their respective music directors. An ardent educator, Ben has taught across the United States from Maine to Alaska. He has served as an interim faculty member at Kent State University, a visiting instructor at the Oberlin Conservatory, and presented master classes overseas in China. Festival appearances include the Pacific Music Festival (Japan), National Repertory Orchestra (Colorado), Breckenridge Music Festival (Colorado), ChamberFest Cleveland (Ohio), Centre d’Arts Orford (Canada), and the Sarasota Music Festival (Florida). Ben earned degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he was a recipient of the Helen Curtis Webster Memorial Award and a winner of the 2012 concerto competition, and an Artist Diploma from the Oberlin Conservatory. His teachers include Richard Hawkins and Franklin Cohen.