Juan Felipe Duran Chang was born in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. His parents had a high standard of promoting knowledge in science, art and music from an early age.

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He began studying piano and viola under the direction of Blanca Pulido, at the age of 4. He continued his piano studies at the Vicente Emilio Sojo Conservatory of Music where he studied piano with Maestro Omar Gómez, Dr. Alejandra Sánchez and privately with Ingrid Algarra.

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In addition, he was learning viola under the guidance of Professor Mari Gil, Maestro Pedro Vargas and Maestro José Guillermo Fuentes. He entered El Sistema, a national music education program, where he performed Gustav Mahler's second symphony under the direction of Gustavo Dudamel. He has participated in multiple master classes to develop his orchestral skills. 

 

He is a graduate of the U. E. N. San Francisco Javier and the U. E. Colegio Ilustre Americano in science. He holds bachelors degrees in Mathematics from the Universidad Centroccidental Lisandro Alvarado and Music from the Vicente Emilio Sojo Conservatory of Music.

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In 2015 he served as the  conductor of the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra and an orchestral and viola coach. He currently studies viola under Ellen Rose (principal violist for the Dallas Symphony 25+ years) and serves as the Artist in Residence for New Song Music Academy where he teaches piano, viola, violin and cello including group ensembles. While in this role, Juan has supported faculty and students by playing accompaniment on the viola, violin, and piano, as well as performed masterpieces by Bach, Glazunov, and Hoffmeister.