Xi Chen came from a family of musicians and music educators. At an early age, she attended master classes held by musical legends such as Eugene Ormandy, Herbert von Karajan and Seiji Ozawa. At the age of eleven, she enrolled at the Central Conservatory in Beijing, China. She received her Master's Degree from Temple University. Her teachers were Helen Kwalwasser, William DePasquale, David Arben, Lin Yaoji and Zhao Weijian. She has performed in Asia, Europe and the Americas as soloist, chamber musician and orchestral musician. She was the leader of and recorded with the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra before becoming a member of the Kennedy Center Opera House/Washington National Opera Orchestra. She has taught and performed extensively through the Kennedy Center's outreach program at schools in DC and Virginia.  Since establishing her teaching studio in Virginia in 2000, her students have become violinists, conductors, composers, artists and other professionals who are very fond of music.