Double Dose of Talent

 If you like piano music, you’ll want to see Anita Chen in concert. And if you like the violin? Well, then you’ll want to see Anita Chen perform.

Variety is the spice of life, or music, for Chen, who grew up in East Brunswick and plays both the piano and violin professionally. It’s rare for a pro to play both, and Chen says many of her teachers discouraged her from pursuing her multi-instrumental path. Even while in the pre-college division at Julliard, there were people who tried to get her to focus on just one instrument.

“I double majored for one year and then, I guess, they thought it was too much for me,” she says. “So that kind of says how the classical world sees playing two major instruments.” Julliard’s policy against playing piano and violin led to her decision to leave, but that hasn’t hurt her career. She’s performed in the U.S. and in Europe and released an album in 2006 when she was still a teenager.

On Wednesday, Feb. 16, Chen will perform a concert at the East Brunswick Performing Arts Center at Hammarskjold School as part of the East Brunswick Public Schools’ Arts Education Concert series. She will perform with the EBHS Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Director Michael Berry.

The program will include the first movement of Mozart’s fifth violin concerto with the EBHS Chamber Orchestra. Chen will then perform some selections as a soloist, including Grieg’s sonata no. 2 for violin, then on piano, Brahms’ variation of Paganini, and then back to violin to play Fritz Kreisler’s arrangement of Corelli’s “La Folia.”

She says switching back and forth between violin and piano should make for an interesting evening of music, but she says her insistence on playing two instruments has resulted in criticism

“It might be hard to believe but some people have put me down and told me that I can’t play two, including ex-teachers,” she says. "I’ve just chosen to ignore that and stay strong and believe I can (play both) even though most people believe it’s impossible.”

Her devotion to both violin and piano comes through when she’s asked if she prefers one to the other.

“It’s equal, I would say, always,” she says. “So many people have me the question: ‘Would you be able to choose one? Do you like one more? Do you like playing one more? No, I started playing both basically at the same time and I stuck with it.”

Chen says she started playing when she was 3 or 4, and she credits her abilities to her parents, who made sure Chen and her two brothers practiced their instruments. Even on Halloween, she and her brothers had to give up trick or treating for practice.

“You can imagine how noisy this house was,” she says. “We definitely got our fair share of sleepovers and parties, but our parents kept us on track and definitely did the right thing. We’re all normal, so I’m sure they did something right.”

Though she has performed in East Brunswick at places like the library, she says her Feb. 16 performance is her first, full-fledged concert in her hometown. It will also mark the first time she’s played with Berry, who taught her at Churchill Junior High School.

“When I left… I was just a student,” she says. “And now I’m back, being invited as a guest soloist. At 19, I’m pretty proud. It’s a pretty great honor and I’m glad they thought of me.”

Tickets cost $10, $5 seniors (60-plus) and students. For information, call 732-613-6985 or go to www.ebnet.org