MuChen Hsieh, violin 

MuChen Hsieh, a native of Taiwan, joined the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2024, following her tenure as Principal Second Violin of the Houston Symphony, a position she held from 2017.

An active and versatile performer, MuChen appears regularly in recitals, chamber music concerts, and orchestral performances throughout the United States and Taiwan. She has been featured multiple times as a soloist with the Houston Symphony, most recently in a subscription concert conducted by former Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada in March 2022, performing Bruch’s Double Concerto with Principal Violist, Joan DerHovsepian. In 2020, she performed “Winter” from The Four Seasons under the baton of Nicholas McGegan, and in 2019, she appeared as soloist in Violin Concerto No. 3 at the Miller Outdoor Theatre with conductor Ruth Reinhardt.

A passionate chamber musician, MuChen has collaborated with distinguished artists including James Dunham, Eric Halen, Jon Kimura Parker, Cho-Liang Lin, Gil Shaham, and Kathleen Winkler. When visiting Taiwan, she enjoys organizing chamber music concerts with fellow musicians.

Her festival appearances include the Grand Teton Music Festival, New York String Orchestra, Sarasota Music Festival, and the Music Academy of the West.

MuChen studied with Kathleen Winkler at the Shepherd School of Music, and with Concertmaster of Boston Symphony, Malcolm Lowe, and Masuko Ushioda at the New England Conservatory. During her time at Rice University, she served frequently as concertmaster of the Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra, including for the orchestra’s tour to Carnegie Hall.