Born in Kaohsiung, Christopher Chen graduated from the Peabody Conservatory Johns Hopkins University with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree.

In 2005, he won the Herbert von Karajan Young Conductors Award, followed by an invitation to collaborate with the Vienna Philharmonic at the Salzburg Festival. From 2007 to 2011, he was Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Jiangsu Symphony Orchestra, professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and Artistic Director of the Suzhou Culture and Arts Centre.

In 2013, he began leading the Academy of Music of Suzhou University and the following year he led the Baroque Camerata Orchestra in Taiwan and the Tapiola Youth Symphony Orchestra in Finland. He has worked with orchestras in Europe, USA, Asia and Russia. Since 2022 he is the Principal Guest Conductor of the Tatarstan National Symphony Orchestra.

In 2016 Chen became General and Artistic Director of the Jiangsu Center for the Performing Arts in Nanjing, P.R. China and while there personally invited many outstanding musicians and ensembles including Z. Mehta, V. Gergiev, A. Netrebko, L. Kavakos, A. Nelsons, A. Sladkovsky, K. Zimerman, the Vienna, Munich, Israel, and London Philharmonic Orchestras,.

Dr Chen is one of the Experts of The Thousand Talents Plan — the highest award for foreigners in China and is Distinguished Professor at the Communication University of Zhejiang in Hangzhou. He resides in Australia, China and Finland.