Claire Chen

Claire Chen is an eighth grader at Ladue Middle school and is looking forward to her first season in the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra.  

Chen’s passion for music began eight years ago when she first attended a chamber music concert at her preschool. She quickly fell in love with the string instruments and began her violin lesson with Sergey Nazarov in Westchester, New York. When she moved down to Birmingham, Alabama in 2020, she studied under Jenifer Whittle, where she had the opportunity to play with the Alabama North Region Orchestra, Alabama All-State Orchestra, and Alabama Symphony Youth Orchestra as a violinist until she moved again.  

Chen moved to St. Louis in the summer of 2025, where she started to play viola at her school orchestra and continued playing violin at the Community Music School of Webster University’s Young People’s Symphonic Orchestra. Only after then did Chen realize that she wanted to pursue a path in viola, leading her to participate in St. Louis All Suburban Middle School Honor Orchestra in 2026 as the principal Violist.  

Aside from playing music, Chen enjoys playing tennis and watching anime. She also performs with her friends at nursing homes during weekends. Chen is very grateful for her teachers, orchestra friends, and her family.