Trio Oriens brings together three musicians from Taiwan—Dr. I-Ling Chen, Dr. Shih-Ting Huang & Mrs. Olive Chen. Following a successful debut season in 2010, the ensemble quickly became one of the most active chamber groups in the Houston area. Dedicated to presenting fresh and engaging musical experiences, Trio Oriens performs a wide-ranging repertoire that includes classical, contemporary, Taiwanese, Chinese, Latin American, and modern works. 

 

The trio has collaborated with numerous artists, including clarinetist Richard Nunemaker, violinist Rodica Oancea-Gonzales, erhu/viola player Dr. Wei-Yang Lin of the New Asia Chamber Music Society in New York, violin professor Dr. Mann-Wen Lo at the University of Houston, Houston Symphony violist Wei Jiang, watercolor artist Shao-Nan Chen, and visual artist Mark Chen. They have premiered and commissioned works by composers such as Robert Nelson, Joe LoCascio, Stephen Yip, J. Todd Frazier, Joel Love, and Yi-Chih Lu. Trio Oriens was featured on Houston Public Radio’s program “The Front Row”, and their performance of Messiaen’s Quartet “The End of Time” was used in the documentary Age of Iron and archived by the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona.

 

Recent performance venues of the trio include the MATCH Theater in Houston, where they collaborated with visual artist Mark Chen on Holst’s The Planets, as well as the University of Houston, University of St. Thomas, and Christ the King Lutheran Church. Trio Oriens is regularly invited to perform in the Houston Methodist Hospital’s Performing Arts in Medicine Series, the Lenten Arts Series at the St. John Presbyterian Church, the Houston Taiwan Institute for Senior Citizens Artistic Recital and Lecture Series, and the Houston Tuesday Musical Club. They also present family and children’s concerts at venues such as the Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Arts and the Campbell Learning Center, offering themed programs like The Carnival of the Animals, performed with storyteller/clarinetist Phillip Sammons, and The Tales from the Opera for Curious Ears, featuring soprano/storyteller Carla Hammock. The trio frequently collaborates with local ensembles, including the long-established Taiwanese Chorus of Houston.

 

Deeply committed to nurturing the next generation of musical ambassadors, Trio Oriens’ youth group, Trio Oriens Junior, has performed in the Houston Young Artists Concert and at various community events. During the 2020 pandemic, they produced the video project “Carnival in Quarantine”, which brought together 78 young artists from around the world in a multilingual, multidisciplinary online performance of Carnival of the Animals. Since 2024, Trio Oriens has hosted the Oriens Composition Competition annually, offering a platform for composers under 25 worldwide to showcase their talented works with Asian elements, promoting them by premiering the winning works in the US. The Oriens Chamber Music Competition, Piano Competition, and the upcoming Violin Competition also invite musicians under age 18 to explore and perform Asian-influenced repertoire in the United States.

 

Honored to be selected as a unique performing ensemble by the Houston City’s “Harmony in the Air” program since 2024, Trio Oriens regularly performs music of a wide range of styles at the Intercontinental Airport of Houston (IAH), and also devotes in regular community and charity events by hosting various music activities.