Oral history interview with Ruby Chen, 2019 January 8

This oral history interview with Ruby Chen was conducted by Jessica Pollard and Sankar Raman on January 8, 2019. A woman identified only as Nancy was also present and occasionally contributed to the interview questions. The interview was recorded for The Immigrant Story, an organization that documents and archives the stories of immigrants and refugees in the United States.

In this interview, Chen discusses her family background and early life in Taipei, Taiwan, and talks about her early violin lessons and participation in music competitions. She speaks about moving with her family to Toronto, Canada, including adjusting to life in Canada, her education, and participating in music competitions. She also talks about the origins of her English name, Ruby. She discusses studying violin at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, and talks about making friends, adjusting to life in the United States, and living away from her family. She then briefly talks about studying violin at the Yale School of Music and playing in a string quartet. She also shares an anecdote about working with Josh Groban and with Celtic Thunder while a student at Eastman. She describes the process of auditioning for symphonies, and discusses her career as a violinist for the Oregon Symphony. She talks about teaching violin, about how Taiwan has changed since she left, and about her life in Portland, Oregon. She closes the interview by discussing her activities outside of her career with the symphony, talking about her cultural identity, and sharing advice for aspiring musicians.