San Francisco Symphony - Violinist
San Francisco Conservatory of Music - Violin Professor
SF Symphony Youth Orchestra - Violin Coach

A native of Shanghai, Chen Zhao showed an early interest in music, playing a makeshift violin (a chopstick and pencil box) until his parents gave him a 1/8-size violin on his fourth birthday. He studied with his uncle Ronghao Nie and gave his first public performance at the Shanghai Children’s Palace at age six. He went on to study at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Crossroads School for Art and Sciences, Curtis Institute of Music, and the SF Conservatory of Music. Chen’s teachers include Jiaxiang Zhou, Jiyang Zhao, Heiichiro Ohyama, Felix Galimir, Camilla Wicks, alongside members of renowned quartets from Amadeus, Guarneri, Vermeer, Juilliard, and Borodin. At age 25, Chen joined the San Francisco Symphony, marking a pivotal milestone in his career.

Chen’s extensive touring has taken him across the US, Europe and Asia, with performances at the Ravinia, La Jolla, Sun Valley, Round Top, Santa Fe, PMF, Evian, PCMF, BBC Proms and Lucerne festivals. A seasoned performer in the world's most prestigious concert halls, he has performed as a soloist with the San Francisco Symphony, SFS Youth Orchestra, Curtis Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Chamber Orchestra, Stanford Symphony Orchestra, Cal Poly Symphony, and Camellia Symphony Orchestra. An avid chamber musician, he has performed with Martin Lovett, Miriam Fried, Denise Djokic, Paul Neubauer, Robert Chen, Gilbert Kalish, Jorja Fleezanis, Geraldine Walther, Scott Lee, Sheryl Staples, Colin Jocobsen, as well as his SFS and SFCM colleagues.

During his tenure with the SF Symphony, Chen has performed and recorded with Michael Tilson Thomas in all Mahler Symphonies, MTT’s From the Diary of Anne Frank, Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6, Schumann Symphonies and Mason Bates Works for Orchestra on the SFS Media label. He appeared in all the Keeping Score documentary films as well as the S&M2 live concert film with Metallica. Beyond his symphony work, Chen has explored diverse musical collaborations, recording with his wife Carri Abrahms and daughter Mila, mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, the band Train, and violinists Nikki Choi and Sholom Mintz for social media platforms, and being featured as concertmaster for director Joan Chen’s film soundtracks. Additionally, he helped to organize masterclasses for SFCM students, featuring renowned artists like Hilary Hahn, James Ehnes, Ray Chen, and Yuja Wang.

Chen has mentored and coached hundreds of young violinists in the SF Bay Area and at music festivals. Most recently, his students have made solo debuts with the San Francisco Symphony, Las Vegas Philharmonic, and Academy of St Martin in the Fields Orchestra alongside Joshua Bell. Many have gone on to successful careers as soloists, chamber musicians, and orchestral players, performing with major orchestras including SF Symphony, LA Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, and Milwaukee Symphony.

Beyond his role as a violinist with the SF Symphony, performing in over 160 concerts per season, Chen maintains an active career as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. He also shares his expertise as a violin professor at SFCM and serves as an orchestral excerpt coach for the SFCM Orchestra and SF Symphony Youth Orchestra. During the summer, Chen takes on artist-in-residence roles at the Round Top and Pacific Crest Music Festivals and performs with the Lake Area Music Festival Orchestra with Christian Reif.