Master class with Robert Chen, CSO Concertmaster

As part of the 2025 CSO"s Chicago Youth in Music Festival, the Music Institute of Chicago will host and participate in a special master class with CSO's Concertmaster, Robert Chen.  The Chicago Youth in Music Festival is an annual celebration of young people who are passionate about symphony orchestras.

Robert Chen 

Robert Chen celebrates his twenty-fifth season as concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. During his tenure as the CSO concertmaster, he has been featured as soloist with many world-renowned conductors, including Riccardo Muti, Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez and Bernard Haitink. He gave the CSO premiere of György Ligeti’s Violin Concerto, Elliott Carter’s Violin Concerto and Witold Lutoslawski’s Chain Two, as well as the world premiere of Augusta Read Thomas’s Astral Canticle. In addition to his duties as concertmaster, Chen enjoys a solo career that takes him around the world. Most recently, he toured Europe as soloist-conductor with the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, Chen has been an artistic partner of the Northbrook Symphony Orchestra since 2019.