Regaling the world with music

"The interpersonal communication in the West is very different from what we have in Asia," Chen says. With his Western friends, "we'd be talking about their history and culture. I learned a lot from our conversations."

Chen has performed around the world, from the Americas to Europe and Asia, and amazes his audience each time.

"I have audiences leaving messages on my fan page saying that they thought I was Russian in my previous life and that my soul was Russian," Chen says, laughing. "Some ladies from Moscow came to me with tears and told me they were so impressed that I spoke their musical language so well.

"When I play, I put myself into the time, the weather, the atmosphere the music describes."

Chen has won many international piano competitions and awards such as the Bosendorfer prize in Vienna. He has been named Best Young Artist by Taiwan's Minister of Culture, and won the Best Prize for Contributions to Music at the Salzburg International Music Festival, and the Albert Roussel Prize in Paris.

For all his achievements, Chen remains modest.

"I don't have a definition of success. I don't know if I'm successful yet," he says with a laugh. "I never thought of having audiences enjoy my performances as being successful but it, indeed, has always been one of the driving forces of my entire career."

When he is not performing, Chen conducts master classes in places like the New England Conservatory in Boston and the Master Player International Music Academy in Lugano, Switzerland.

He wants to pass on what he has learned, "especially (to) students coming from my Chinese culture".

Charity is another of Chen's passions. "If I wasn't a pianist, I would have worked in charity for sure," he says.

He holds free concerts for the underprivileged whenever he can. He once put 200 wheelchairs in the VIP area of a venue to make sure those in the audience with special needs could enjoy his music.

In 2012, Chen organized the first National Piano Competition for Disabled Youngsters in Taiwan. The winners performed with him before an audience of about 2,000.

"I want to let them know that everyone is entitled and able to enjoy music," he says.

Despite having spent his formative years of piano study practicing hard, he says he hardly has time to do that nowadays "due to all the tightly scheduled performances".

"But I do take time off every year to create new music. I'm very interested in creating something new." In recent years, Chen has done a lot of collaboration and premiering of new solo and piano concerto works in addition to his solo recitals and orchestral performances of classical repertoire.

"My father ... wanted me to become a teacher like him," says Chen. "Now I've proved that I chose the right way for myself and they're very proud of me."