A San Gabriel Valley native, Lavinia Chen is a professional violinist and respected music educator. She serves as the music coach for The Harker School and is on the violin faculty at the Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA), the largest community arts school in the Bay Area. Lavinia conducts string orchestras at nine public schools every week, providing comprehensive music instruction across the entire Mountain View Whisman School District. As ensemble leader for the San Francisco Symphony’s Adventures in Music (AIM) program, Lavinia has visited every public elementary school in San Francisco, performing hundreds of educational music shows that reached over 20,000 students with her violin. In addition, Lavinia is a member of the Nova Vista Symphony and maintains a thriving studio of private violin students.

Lavinia holds a Master’s degree in violin performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she gained international recognition by winning competitions that led to solo performances in Vienna and London as the First Prize Winner. She is also a proud graduate of UCLA, where she received a full scholarship and majored in violin performance, with double minors in Visual & Performing Arts Education (VAPAE) and Musicology. Before that, Lavinia graduated from the Elizabeth Mandell Music Institute (EMMI) at the Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences, where she earned the honor of playing on the 1861 Sámuel Nemessányi Violin from the Mandell Collection. Recognized for her cheerful spirit and mature teaching style, Lavinia’s musical talents have been celebrated on stages across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and Asia. 

Lavinia Chen and Artistic Director Alex Deng are former classmates and alum from Alhambra High School's Music Department.

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