Ray Chen took up a place at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, USA aged 15, receiving international acclaim. In 2008 he was awarded first prize at the Yehudi Menuhin Competition, an accolade he repeated the following year at the Queen Elizabeth Competition. Thanks to his outstanding musical talent, he regularly appears with major orchestras and conductors, including Riccardo Chailly, Vladimir Jurowski, Sakari Oramo, Manfred Honeck, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, the Scala Philharmonic, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra as well as numerous others. He has been described by the specialist magazines ›The Strad‹ and ›Grammophone‹ as »One to watch«.

Since 2017 Ray Chen has been on contract with Decca Classics and brought out his CD ›The Golden Age‹ in June 2018 to follow on from his previous three much celebrated CDs on the Sony label. As a violinist, Ray Chen has redefined the image of the classical musician in the 21st century. His presence on social media makes Ray Chen a pioneer of the digital relationship with the public.

He has also appeared as guest performer at a number of major events such as the French National Holiday, the Nobel Prize Ceremony in Stockholm and at the BBC Proms. Chen plays the 1715 ›Joachim‹ Stradivarius on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation and which was once owned by the famous Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim (1831-1907).

Joshua Weilerstein is the Artistic Director of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, where his contract has been extended until the end of the 2020/21 season. He enjoys a flourishing guest-conducting career and has established a number of close relationships both in Europe and the USA, including the NDR Radiophilharmonie, BBC Symphony, and the New York Philharmonic, where he was assistant conductor. Joshua Weilerstein is known for his clarity of musical expression, unforced manner and natural musicianship.

In the 2019/20 season Weilerstein will return to orchestras such as Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. At the beginning of the season, he will lead the Orchestra de Chambre de Lausanne on a tour to Germany and will also make his debut with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

During his time as Assistant Conductor with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Weilerstein was actively involved in the orchestra’s Young People’s Concerts. In August 2018, he conducted a specially devised programme, ›The Sound of an Orchestra‹, for the BBC Proms which was inspired by Leonard Bernstein’s televised presentations in New York and was described as »…an exhilarating musical ride through three centuries’ worth of orchestral music to try to investigate ‚the sound of an orchestra‘.« (Bachtrack)

An advocate of easy communication between the stage and audience, Weilerstein welcomes discussion about all aspects of classical music, programming, and the experience of concert-going.