Profile

Biography

Yi-Ping Chen, Director of Orchestral Activities at Missouri State University, wishes to make classical music relevant to all the communities she connects with. In her previous communities in Virginia, Chen was the Music Director of Rockbridge Symphony, taught conducting at James Madison University, served as executive director of JMU’s Spring String Thing camp, and conducted the Shenandoah Valley Youth Orchestra. In Fargo-Moorhead, Chen served as the Orchestra Director of University Orchestra at Minnesota State University Moorhead and North Dakota State University. She continues to serve as founding conductor of Fargo-Moorhead Ballet Company’s annual production of Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker.”

Passionate about providing equal access to classical music, Chen co-founded Caravanserai Music, a flexible chamber group that promotes compassion and community through performances. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she produced the Classical Connections video series to engage young audience in classical music through interactive activities. She co-hosted online performance and dialogue with the Shenandoah LGBTQ Center, on the topic of rejection and acceptance found in Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night and the LGBTQ+ community.

Chen holds a DMA degree in conducting from University of Minnesota and a master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting from Northwestern University. Her principal conducting teachers include Mark Russell Smith, Victor Yampolsky, and Raffi Armenian.

Details

Education

• DMA, Conducting, University of Minnesota
• MM, Orchestral Conducting, Northwestern University