Ray Chen isn’t just a concert violinist. He’s a digital innovator who sees music through a prism of infinite possibilities. His most recent album, Player 1, captures four distinct aspects of his identity – musician, entrepreneur, social-media pioneer and gamer.

“It’s an announcement of who I am, and who I’ve been for the past few years,” he says, adding that “to view recordings nowadays as anything but legacy pieces is a bit of a mistake, unless you are actually premiering something.”

Ray Chen. Photo © Meredith Truax/Decca Records

Recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Cristian Măcelaru, the album adopts a gaming analogy for the relationship between the musician (Player 1) and the listener (Player 2). It pairs music from television, anime, film and video games, including Squid Game, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, How to Train Your Dragon and Pokémon Red, with Korngold’s Violin Concerto. (Chen’s 1714 ‘Dolphin’ Stradivarius was previously owned by Jascha Heifetz, who premiered the concerto in 1947.)

Chen has a strong affinity with Korngold, whom he considers a pioneer, not only for the way...