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Chinese pianist Yezi Chen has performed as a soloist, chamber musician, and collaborative pianist in the United States and China. At the invitation of tourism and cultural authorities in her home region of Xinjiang, China, Chen has made multiple appearances as a recitalist and educator, presenting solo recitals, masterclasses, and lectures and leading professional development workshops for local piano teachers. Chen’s artistic work has found expression in several recording and performance projects, including an extensive study of works by Grammy Award–winning composer Tan Dun and Western compositions shaped by Asian musical idioms. She has also explored the intersection of classical music and jazz through the music of Russian composer Nikolai Kapustin.

Yezi Chen began studying piano at age five. She earned a Bachelor of Music from the Sichuan Conservatory of Music, one of China’s major professional conservatories, and later earned a Master of Music from the University of Kansas, where she studied with distinguished pianist and pedagogue Jack Winerock. She later completed her Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance at the University of Missouri–Kansas City under Thomas Rosenkranz, expanding her engagement with 20th- and 21st-century repertoire and giving the world premiere of Wind and Sand, a work for piano solo.

Chen’s honors include First Prize and Best Performance of a Virtuoso Etude at the WPTA America International Piano Competition, along with awards from the Hong Kong–Asia Piano Open Competition and the Deutscher Irmler International Piano Open Competition. She has also received the Ruth A. Rich Piano Scholarship, the Lorraine Watson Scholarship, and the Women’s Committee Scholarship.

Chen served as a collaborative pianist for opera program at UMKC, rehearsing and performing in five full-scale opera productions. Her work in opera broadened her artistic perspective and deepened her sense of music as an unfolding dramatic narrative. After relocating to Pennsylvania, she joined Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and Dance as an adjunct faculty member and collaborative pianist.

Based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Chen is the founder and director of Dr. Chen Piano Studio, where she shapes the studio’s educational vision, guides the teaching team, and creates performance opportunities for students across the Lehigh Valley. She is also active as a church music director.