Zhi Jie Chen

Zhi Jie Chen is a New York City-based Chinese-American musician and film composer. His compositions and piano playing are inspired by a fusion of his Chinese heritage, jazz, and the Western classical traditions, characterized by his unique approach to storytelling through the creation of new sounds and textures by blending these disparate styles. Serving as the lead composer on several short films and contributing to creating sound design and foley for several documentaries and videogames, including Jayuya (2023), The Builder (2024), and La Esperanza (2025), Zhi has sought every opportunity to contribute his musical skill sets to help other artists and filmmakers tell their own stories. 

Zhi is currently a first-year graduate student studying Screen Scoring at NYU Steinhardt with Professor Shruti Kumar and D.D. Jackson. Zhi also double majored in Music Composition and Piano Performance for his Bachelor’s degree at the Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College, studying under Professor Jeffrey Biegel and Professor Polina Nazaykinskaya. He is the bandleader of his jazz orchestra, The Chicken Combo Big Band, and is currently working on a musical based on the 12 Chinese Zodiac Animals. He aspires to be an artist who can contribute to breaking down societal barriers within the Asian-American community through music and film. In his free time, he enjoys surfing and going on food adventures in the city with his little brother.