Steven Lin, Piano

Biography

Taiwanese-American pianist Steven Lin is an immediately engaging and imaginative young artist, applauded by the New York Times for playing that is “…immaculately voiced and enhanced by admirable subtleties of shading and dynamics,” and his growing list of awards features the 2012 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition and the John Giordano Jury Chairman Discretionary Award at the 2013 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.  In May 2014, his dynamic playing at Israel’s Arthur Rubinstein Piano Competition was recognized when he was awarded the Silver Medal.

Steven Lin’s featured US recital engagements for the 2014-15 season include his Kennedy Center debut on the Washington Performing Arts Hayes Piano Series, and recitals for Strathmore Performing Arts Center and Macon Concert Association.  As a concerto soloist, he is featured in three performances with the Kansas City Symphony and Music Director Michael Stern; other 2014-15 concerto appearances include the Waco and Victoria symphonies (TX), and the Hilton Head Symphony (SC). He is also featured prominently in the Cliburn Competition documentary film, Virtuosity, which premieres on PBS in June 2015.

Internationally, Mr. Lin begins 2014-15 in the Pacific with concerto performances in Australia and Taiwan (including a return engagement with the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra in Taipei), and his itinerary will also take him to Israel, Germany, Poland and London, including a recital at Wigmore Hall.  He also tours his native Taiwan in spring 2015 as guest soloist with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra.

Steven Lin’s artistry was clear from an early age when he was accepted into the Juilliard Pre-College Division on a full scholarship at the age of ten to study with Yoheved Kaplinsky. A two-time winner of the Juilliard Pre-College Piano Competition, he made his debut with the New York Philharmonic in Avery Fisher Hall at the age of 13. Additional concerto performances include the New Jersey Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Orlando Philharmonic and Sendai Symphony Orchestra. He has appeared on radio broadcasts including NPR’s From The Top and WQXR’s McGraw Hill Young Artists Showcase.

He has enjoyed appearances world-wide at important venues including the Louvre and Salle Cortot in France, the National Dublin Hall in Ireland, the Seoul Arts Center in Korea, Sendai Cultural Center in Japan, and Avery Fisher Hall in the United States.  Recent recital debuts include Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall; Gilmore Rising Stars; Pepperdine University Center for the Arts; Miami’s National Chopin Foundation and the International Piano Series (Charleston, SC).  Summer 2013 festival performances included the Aspen Chamber Music Workshop, under the mentorship of David Finckel and Wu Han, and the La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest, curated by violinist Cho-Liang Lin.

Steven Lin earned both Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees studying with Robert McDonald and Matti Raekallio at The Juilliard School, where he also won the Gina Bachauer Piano Competition.  He is currently pursuing a Performance Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music, under the guidance of Robert McDonald.  In 2012, he was a prizewinner at the William Kapell International Competition, and that same year he claimed an unprecedented three honors at the International Hilton Head Piano Competition, including excellence in baroque and contemporary music, as well as for his overall pianism.  When not making music, Steven Lin describes himself as an ‘NBA basketball fanatic.’