Justin Chen, 15 (Canada)

Justin Chen is a 15-year-old Canadian pianist and composer. Currently a fifth-year student at the Royal Conservatory of Music Taylor Academy and a tenth-grade student at the University of Toronto Schools, Justin has already achieved significant milestones in his musical journey. In 2023, he won First Place in the Canadian Music Competition (CMC) National Finals age 12 category. In 2025, he placed Second in the CMC age 11–14 piano group and was Third overall among all instruments.

Justin started playing the piano at age six and began composing music at seven. By age 11, he earned his Piano ARCT diploma, and at 13, he achieved his Piano LRCM diploma. He currently studies piano under Professor Li Wang. He has played for prominent musicians such as Hung-Kuan Chen, Jerome Lowenthal, Jeremy Denk, Stewart Goodyear, Anton Nel, Joseph Rackers, Jason Kwak, Dmitri Vorobiev, Elzbieta Wiedner-Zajaz, Makoto Ozone, James Anagnoson, Randall Faber, and Dang Thai Son.

Justin made his Carnegie Hall debut at age eight, and the following year he won the Canadian Music Trophy at the CCC Music Festival. That year, he was also invited to perform his own composition for Her Imperial Highness, the Royal Princess of Japan, at the Royal Conservatory of Music. He won First Place in the 2021 GOCAA International Piano Competition and became a 2021 GOCAA Young Artist. In 2022, he was awarded the Yip’s Music Festival Best of Levels (ARCT) Trophy and the David Ouchterlony Memorial Scholarship as the Most Promising Student at the Kiwanis Music Festival. He also hosted his first piano solo recital in Vancouver in July 2022.

He became a 2023 OYMI Music Festival Contract Award winner and premiered his original piano concerto with the OYMCO orchestra in June 2024, returning for another performance in December 2024. As a First Place winner in the Global Philharmonic Music Competition, Justin performed at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles in August 2024. In 2025, he attended the Vivace International Music Festival in Wilmington, NC.

Justin also plays violin and viola, and he currently studies violin under Dr. Conrad Chow. Outside of music, Justin enjoys badminton, table tennis, science, coding, and speed cubing.