Ray Chen at the Wharton Center

Taiwanese-Australian violinist Ray Chen has collaborated with many of the world’s top orchestras and performed at concert halls across the globe, taking classical music and bringing it into the modern age to resonate with audiences of all ages and musical sensibilities. His performance 7:30 p.m. Saturday (March 16) at the Wharton Center with pianist Julio Elizalde will include a special arrangement of Chick Corea’s jazz-fusion standard “Spain” alongside Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 7, Bach’s Partita No. 3 for solo violin, Tartini’s “Devil’s Trill” sonata, Dvorak’s Slavonic Dance No. 2 and more.

Chen came to prominence in the classical world through his first-place wins at the 2008 Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition and the 2009 Queen Elisabeth Competition. Since then, he has been featured on Forbes’ list of 30 most influential Asians under 30, appeared at major events like France’s Bastille Day celebration and the Nobel Prize Concert in Stockholm and co-founded the music practice app Tonic, which “aims to motivate musicians and learners around the world to practice their craft together,” according to his website. The Huffington Post wrote that his performances are “to die for,” and music critic Anne Midgette applauded his ability to “do pretty much anything he wants on the violin.”

Tickets for the Wharton Center show are $19 for students and youth and start at $25 for the general public. They’re available at whartoncenter.com, the Wharton Center Ticket Office or by calling (517) 432-2000.