The Chinese bass-baritone Junqian Chen, a fourth-semester student preparing for his soloist examination in singing under Prof. Hanno Müller-Brachmann, reached the final of the 31st International Johannes Brahms Competition in Pörtschach am Wörthersee (Austria) and was also awarded the Special Prize for the best interpretation of a song by Gustav Jenner.
Gustav Jenner, born in Keitum on Sylt in 1865, moved to Vienna in the late 1880s, where he became Johannes Brahms’s sole composition pupil in 1888. The special prize is worth 1,000 euros.
Gustav Jenner, born in Keitum on Sylt in 1865, moved to Vienna in the late 1880s, where he became Johannes Brahms’s sole composition pupil in 1888.
Junqian Chen, a bass-baritone, was born in Wenzhou (China) in 1998. He began his vocal studies in 2016 with Prof. Yi Ge at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. After completing his Bachelor’s degree, he went on to study for a Master’s degree in Lied, Oratorio and Concert Performance at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna in 2021, under Prof. Markus Hadulla and Prof. Peter Edelmann.
He is currently studying for his soloist’s diploma in singing under Prof. Hanno Müller-Brachmann at the Karlsruhe University of Music, as well as for his concert diploma in Lied under Prof. Götz Payer at the prestigious Stuttgart University of Music and Performing Arts.
He has already appeared as a soloist in numerous concerts and opera productions, including as Bartolo (Le nozze di Figaro) and Luther (Les Contes d’Hoffmann). He gained significant artistic inspiration from masterclasses with Andreas Schmidt, Mitsuko Shirai, Birgid Steinberger, Ulf Bästlein, Charles Spencer and others.
In 2023, he was awarded the Mahler Music Festival Prize in Jihlava; in 2025, he also received the Gottlob Frick Medal from the Gottlob Frick Society.