Luke Chen is 16 years old and a Junior at Lakeside School in Seattle. He has been studying and playing cello since he was five and started composing when he was ten. Luke has been part of the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra since 2013 and played a wide range of orchestral work. Recently, he joined the Academy Chamber Orchestra in Seattle as principal cellist. Luke has participated in Seattle Young Artists Music Festival for many years and won several Special Recognitions in both the Complete Program and Concerto Program. Luke is also active at Performance Arts Festival of Eastside and won placements every year since 2016, most recently second place for cello solo for 9-10th grade class in 2019, and first place ensemble, Pegasus String Quartet in 2018. Luke was a member of the 2019 NAfME All-northwest Orchestra and performed in Portland at the NAfME Convention. He won second place at the WMEA Regional Solo and Ensemble Contest in 2019 and was one of the 22 finalists that competed at the State Contest, where he earned superior rating form all three judges. In 2015, Luke won first place at the Russian Chamber Music Foundation Competition and played his solo on King FM radio.
