A native of Taiwan, Janet Jie-ru Chen holds B.A. and M.A. degrees from Taipei National University of the Arts, under the instruction of Dr. Shyhji Pan-Chew. Her compositions have been performed by groups, such as the Luxembourg Sinfonietta (Luxembourg), the Orchestre National de Lorraine (France), the Présence Contemporaine (France), the Kochi Ensemble (Japan) and the Banff Chamber Ensemble (Canada). Ms. Chen has won several prizes including ISCM-ACL Young Composers Awards, William Klenz Prize, Tzu-chi Artistic Scholarship, Shi-an Artistic Creation Prize on music, and the nomination for 2007 Taiwan President’s Awards for Young Creation. She has also received scholarships to attend international music festivals including the International Music Courses in Darmstadt (2008), the Composers Conference at Wellesley (2007), the International Gaudeamus Music Week (2005), the Acanthes Music Festival (2003, 2005) and the Banff Summer Arts Festival (2003).
She was selected as a representative of Taiwan for the 2007 and 2005 ACL Young Composers Awards. In 2004, she was selected as a member of “National Taiwan Young Composer’s Project” by the National Council for Cultural Affairs of Taiwan. Her piece, A Stream of Clouds, has been awarded as one of the best three compositions for the 2003 National Young Composer Project. Her string quartet “Tranquility after Rain” is not only credited as “2002 Young Voice From Taiwan “by the National Council for Cultural Affairs of Taiwan but also received its New York premiere in 2003.
Ms. Chen's music can be characterized as original, intelligent yet with polished style. "Her music exhibits an unique voicing technique typical of Asian," said by composer Jonathan Kramer. In addition, Krzysztof Penderecki acknowledged her musical writing as "original, no copying and truly Asian."
The texture in Ms. Chen's music often abandons the common approach -the technique borrowed from the West of the narrative form of linear progression - found in many Asian composers. A unique way of dealing with voicings in her music can be related to the similar voicing treatment found in the Japanese gagaku or Indonesian gamelan music.
She not only demonstrates her talent in music composition, but also reveals her superb arts administrative management skill. She is now the administrative director of Canada-Taiwan Music and Arts Exchange and the artistic director of Asian Young Musicians' Connection, promoting contemporary music and chamber music for the young talents. The most recent event was the “Series of Lectures, Seminars, and Composition Workshops by Chou Wen-chung”(2003) and “Chou Wen-chung Music Festival Special Album.” (including a CD and a DVD) (2004)
She currently is a third year doctoral student at Duke University, where she is studying with Prof. Stephen Jaffe.