Junyan Chen & Alim Beisembayev

A note from the Artistic Director
From the first time I came to Leeds for the Leeds International Piano Competition in 2024 to now returning as curator of the 2025/26 Leeds International Chamber Series feels like a full circle moment – one filled with gratitude, curiosity, and a sense of both humility and light. It’s a chance for me to share music that speaks deeply to who I am and how I grow.

This season, titled Route/Root, is an exploration of identity through sound – the paths we travel, the cultures that shape us, and the places, both literal and emotional, that we call home. I’ve always been drawn to these questions. Growing up surrounded by different cultures, my passion for contrasting heritages and musical voices has become very important to my artistic life. Each concert moves between genres, time and tradition – from Baroque reimagined with Nordic folk colour to French modernism and spiritual reflections through contemporary lenses. The artists explore what grounds them, what moves them, and how identity is formed in the space between.

I’ve invited musicians who are not only extraordinary artists but also some of my closest friends – people I trust completely to bring vulnerability, joy, and depth to the stage. The series includes an eclectic mix of ensembles: the earthy, imaginative sound of folk/Baroque fusion ensembles, woodwind–string–piano trios, fiery piano quartet, and the grandeur of two pianos sharing one sound-world. Each group offers a unique expression of movement and rootedness, stillness and transformation.

I hope these concerts create moments of resonance, for you to reflect, connect, and perhaps to find pieces of your own story in the music, to trace your own route and feel your own root..

Junyan Chen 
Artistic Director