MUSICIAN OF THE MONTH: JACK CHEN
December is by nature a busy month, which means our final Musician of the Month for 2017 is being introduced to you a little bit late (our apologies!). We’ve heard that most good things are worth waiting for, though, and this is no exception – our December MOTM is none other than Halifax favourite Jack Chen!
Flutist Jack Chen has shared the stage with such diverse artists as Amy Grant, Bobby McFerrin and Sir James Galway. He has also appeared in PBS television music specials and toured with Tim Janis, Finnouala Gill, and EMI vocalists Giorgia Fumanti, Ryland Angel and “Siren.” He earned his graduate degree in flute and early music performance from Indiana University, and has studied with flutists Jeanne Baxtresser, William Bennet, Robert Dick, Patrick Gallois, Sarah Jackson, Bart Kuijken, Robert Langevin, Emmanuel Pahud, and jazz legend, David Baker.
With a tremendous love for chamber music, Jack now performs regularly with Fifth Wind and Conundrum Duo.
An instructor of Flute and Flute Methods at Acadia University, Jack also gives regular masterclasses and clinics.
In addition to performing and teaching, Jack is the Artistic Director of Inner Space Concerts, the Maritime provinces’ premier classical house concert series! Jack will be heard in recitals, concerts, giving masterclasses and judging competitions throughout the Maritimes during the 2017/2018 season.
1.What is your idea of perfect happiness? Perfect happiness is enjoying being around people whom I love and loving doing things I get to do whether it’s performing, curating a concert, camping with the family, out exploring on my kayak or speeding down a hill on my road bike!
2. What recording would you take to a desert island? Clarinetist Jon Manasse’s Mozart Clarinet Quintet recording.
3. What is something people would be surprised to learn about you? I am serious about my coffee— I make a mean latté complete with latté art! The coffee making process is something quasispiritual for me—it’s relaxing, fulfilling and stimulating all at the same time! Plus you get a drink at the end of it.
4. Any place in the world you have not yet visited, but would like to? Africa and mainland China.
5. What/where is your favourite thing to cook? My favourite thing to cook is whatever my wife would like to ‘co-cook’ at the time!
6. Which composer (dead or alive) would you most like to share a meal with, and what would you like to eat with them? W.A. Mozart. We would likely have a couple of bowls of Nova Scotian seafood chowder and our dinner conversation would likely start like this: “My dear Wolfgang, what is this nonsense I hear about your disliking the flute? Let’s talk it over after this lovely bowl of Nova Scotian goodness…”
7. What are you most looking forward to musically in the 2017-2018 season?
I am most looking forward to 2 things:
1. Watching the remaining Inner Space Concerts unfold and meeting new people at our concerts! I am excited most of our concerts are sold out already this season!
2. I am also very excited about my woodwind quintet Fifth Wind’s Canada 150 project ‘Forecasting the Canadian Wind!’ We are spearheading a cross-national project working with 5 wind quintets to premier 5 brand new compositions in 5 different cities in September of 2018! It’s been feeling like Christmas morning the last few weeks as the new compositions are starting to roll in! Look out for our free live streaming music and see what the other wind quintets are up to across the nation!
8. Do you have a favourite recipe, and would you share it with us? See attached [below] photo! It’s from our Wall of Recipe Tiles in our kitchen!
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- Jack Chen is artistic director of Inner Space Concerts.
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- Secret hobby: Latte art.
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- A favourite family recipe.
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- Chen enjoys spending time outdoors with family when not performing.
You can follow Jack’s work with Inner Space Concerts, Fifth Wind, and Conundrum Duo.