Violinist Anna da Silva Chen has been appointed to a permanent position with the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO), becoming the third musician to join the ensemble full-time this year alongside Thibaud Pavlovic-Hobba and Tim Yu. The ACO, under the artistic leadership of Richard Tognetti since 1990, is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Chen first joined the ACO as an Emerging Artist in 2022, and her appointment marks the continuation of a meteoric rise for the Sydney-born, Wollongong-raised musician, widely regarded as one of Australia’s leading violinists.

A former student of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Chen completed graduate studies in Cologne. Her mentors have also included violin luminaries Maxim Vengerov, Ilya Gringolts and Barnabás Kelemen.

Chen has appeared as a soloist with Australia’s major symphony orchestras, including those of Sydney, Adelaide, Queensland, Tasmania and Canberra. In 2024, she performed Max Reger’s Violin Concerto in its Australian premiere with Concerto Arcana.

Internationally, she made her German debut in 2020 with the Göttingen Symphony Orchestra, led a performance of Ligeti’s Melodien at Italy’s Chigiana Festival in 2024, and toured Spain as soloist with the SCM Wind Symphony Orchestra.

A passionate chamber musician, Chen is a founding member of...