Born in Taiwan, Chen Lin has gained versatile reputation playing diverse styles of music, from Classical, Jazz, Tango, to Contemporary. Ms. Lin appears as soloist, chamber and orchestra musician at numerous venues, including recent performances in Taiwan, Japan and the USA.
Chen Lin is a member of the Boston String Quartet since 2005. With the Quartet, Ms. Lin has performed in Jordan Hall, Troy Music Hall, Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall and Boston Symphony Hall. The Quartet has collaborated with artists such as Turtle Island Quartet, Mark O’Connor, and Orla Fallon. Described by the Boston Globe as “exploring different ways of sparking musical interest,” the Quartet frequently concertizes in New England area, and has created its educational program, the “Xibus Tour,” in collaboration with high school and college music programs throughout the States. With the group’s educational tour, Ms. Lin has led workshops, as well as given viola and chamber music masterclasses at numerous schools. To date, Ms. Lin has released five independent albums with her Quartet – “Spectrum,” “On Christmas Eve,” “Contrasts,” “Xibus”and “WorldSong.”
Ms. Lin has won awards at several competitions. She received the First Prize at Taipei Music Competition in 2003, the Fourth Prize at Taiwan Music Competition in 2004 and the Second Prize at Taipei Municipal University of Education’s Concerto Competition. A winner of the American String Teachers Association State-Level Competition (for Massachusetts State, 2006), Ms. Lin also won the Viola Prize at Boston University’s Bach Competition in 2008.
As an orchestra musician, Ms. Lin received engagements with Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Lexington Symphony Orchestra, Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, among others, and has been Principal Violist of Neponset Philharmonic Orchestra. A founding violist of the Boston Chamber Orchestra, with the group, Ms. Lin was invited by Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Foundation for Jewish Philanthropies, to premiere and record Marcel Tyberg’s String Sextet at Mary Scaton Room, Kleinhans Music Hall in Buffalo in 2009.
Ms. Lin received her Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Viola Performance at Boston University in 2011, where she is a full scholarship student under the tutelage of Professor Michelle LaCourse, Chair of the String Department. She has served as Teaching Assistant of the String Department and of Professor LaCourse, and as String Chamber Music Assistant. Ms. Lin received her Bachelor’s degree in Music and Education from Taipei Municipal University of Education, Taiwan, and Master’s degree as a full scholarship student from The Boston Conservatory. Her previous teachers include Lee-Weng Wang, Teizo Yoshinaga and Roger Tapping. She has attended viola masterclasses by Igor Boguslavski and Marcus Thompson, and received chamber music coachings by Raphael Hillyer, Steven Ansell, Peter Zazofsky, Peter Frankl and Norman Fischer.
Devoted in music education, Ms. Lin maintains an active teaching studio, and is one of the founding faculty members of Youth & Muse Festival. She has been invited to teach at Assai! International String Festival and Duxbury Music Festival Prep.
